By SCOTT FELTS
It was a rough Saturday afternoon in Gainesville for the Tennessee Volunteers. Rick Barnes’ squad fell apart in the last few minutes of the first half and pretty much all of the second half … well, honestly, if you’re a Vol fan, it sucked. A slew of turnovers and a huge game by Boogie Fland sent the Vols to a 91-67 blowout loss, the fourth straight defeat for Tennessee on Florida’s court.
Let’s go Beyond the Box Score for a deeper look at a flat-out bad performance by the Vols.
Battle of the Boards: Per KenPom, Tennessee at 45.2 and Florida at 44.2 ranked first and second, respectively, in offensive rebounding percentage among all Division I teams coming into the game, so many thought the offensive rebounding battle would determine the game. At the half, rebounds were even at 17 and the Gators just held a 6-2 advantage on the offensive glass. As the score got lopsided in the second half, rebounds became less the story but ultimately ended with a 41-30 advantage for Florida and just 10-5 on the offensive side.
VolunTurnovers: The story of the game was Tennessee’s turnovers and Florida’s ability to convert them into points. In the first half Florida turned 12 Vols turnovers into 18 points, helping the Gators end the half on a 15-2 run to lead 41-28. The second half wasn’t much better and the Vols ended the game committing 18 total turnovers leading to 30 Florida points.
First Half Haugh: Junior forward Thomas Haugh, who is a Wooden Award Midseason Watch List pick, came in leading the Gators with 17.5 points per game. Haugh packed all first half scorers with 11 and finished the game with 13 points, five steals and three rebounds, but ultimately was overshadowed by a couple of teammates.
Fabulous Fland: Florida guard Boogie Fland was scoreless when the game was tied late in the first half, then took over the game. He finished the game leading all scorers with 23 points on 9-13 shooting with five assists and four steals. Noteworthy, considering Fland came in averaging just under 11 points and 1.6 steals.
Ament Awakens?: The lone bright spot for Tennessee on the day was that highly-touted freshman Nate Ament may have finally taken a step toward playing up to the level that many expect from him. Ament scored the Vols’ first five points on Saturday and finished with 17 points in just 26 minutess on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the line.
Up Next: The Volunteers will attempt to get back into the win column with a return home on Tuesday at 7 PM to host Texas A&M (11-4, 1-1), which played Oklahoma later on Saturday.
Tip Ins: Tennessee came into the game 9-4 in its last 13 games against defending national champions dating back to January 1999. … The Vols also had won nine of the previous 13 meetings with Florida. … Vols guard Amari Evans was shooting 76% (19 of 25) from the field in the last five games coming in but struggled mightly Saturday. He finished with three points. … Florida center Rueben Chinyelu dominated the glass on both sides finishing with 17 points and 16 rebounds before fouling out with under a minute to play.