By ADAM ZAGORIA
There are no more unbeatens in college basketball after No. 8 Florida hammered No. 1 Tennessee 73-43 in SEC action on Tuesday night.
Both SEC teams are now 14-1 after the Gators eviscerated the Volunteers by 30 points.
It was Florida’s third all-time win vs. the No. 1, the first in regular season play or at home, and the first since the 2007 national championship game vs. Ohio State.
“We have an incredible respect for Tennessee and the program that Coach [Rick] Barnes has built there, and we knew that this was going to be a really challenging game for us, but we also do believe we are getting to that point where we expect to win these types of games,” Gators coach Todd Golden said.
“It’s hard to say, when you host the No. 1 team in the country, that you expect to win, but I think our program did going into this game tonight and we had good prep. I thought we had a good mentality, had a good shootaround today and out guys they were just ready for it, you know. You can sense it if guys are nervous or if they’re not, you know, preparing the right way, and I thought we were really locked in and I thought our performance showed that.”
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— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 8, 2025
The Gators went +17 on the glass, 55-38, as Rueben Chinyelu led with a career-high 15 boards.
Alijah Martin led the Gators with 18 points, while Denzel Aberdeen scored a season-high 16 off the bench. Alex Condon picked up his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Gators were coming off a 5-point loss at Kentucky on Saturday.
“We just wanted to protect our home court,” Martin said. “Big shout out to the fans, the students. The place was rocking tonight. [It was] definitely something fun to play in, and credit everybody for the preparation for Tennessee, followed it to a tee, we trusted it and we all executed it.”
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