The Florida Gators suffered their first loss of the season last weekend with a 106-100 defeat at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite falling on the road, Todd Golden’s team ranked eighth in the most recent AP Poll.
Florida didn’t have much time to stress about the game at Rupp Arena. Instead, they turned their attention to the last undefeated team in college basketball: the Tennessee Volunteers.
Florida was impressive in their 71-43 win over the Volunteers on Tuesday night. Before tonight’s victory, the Gators had lost four of the last five against Tennessee. This is Florida’s 60th all-time victory over Tennessee.
Alex Condon had a great game, scoring 12 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and recording two assists and two blocks.
Walter Clayton Jr. had a rare down night, scoring only seven points, but the talent of the Gators roster prevailed with three different scorers in double digits.
Denzel Aberdeen scored 16 points off of the bench. The Orlando native averaged 6.9 points per game with a field goal percentage of 41.2% in his first 13 games this year.
Florida continues its SEC schedule on Saturday when they take on Arkansas. The Gators blew out the Razorbacks 90-68 in their last meeting. It was their first win over Arkansas since 2020. Florida returns home on Jan. 14, when they host Missouri, followed by a home game against the Texas Longhorns.
The team has seven games remaining on their schedule against currently ranked teams. They include: at Tennessee (Feb. 1), at Auburn (Feb. 8), at Mississippi State (Feb. 11), vs. Oklahoma (Feb. 18), vs. Texas A&M (Mar. 1), at Alabama (Mar. 5), and they wrap up the regular season on Mar. 8 against Ole Miss.
The SEC is an extremely tough conference this season, and it will be extremely fun to watch down the stretch. On any given night, any team could upset another. I expect Tennessee to bounce back from this loss, and if they play at their best, they could still win the conference. Don’t be shocked if the winner of the SEC has four or five losses. Remember, the Vols topped the conference last year with a 14-4 record last season.
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