Florida rallies but can't protect a late lead, and Anthony Roberson misses a key free throw.
By Wire services
Published February 1, 2004
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Florida beat Tennessee by 38 points last month at home.
The Gators had a much harder time on the Vols' orange-and-white court.
Scooter McFadgon scored 24 and Brandon Crump added 11 points and 11 rebounds to help Tennessee rally in the final minutes for a 65-63 victory over No. 22 Florida on Saturday afternoon.
"Everybody was talking about payback. Nobody had ever lost by 38 points. It was an embarrassing loss," Crump said. "We couldn't wait to play Florida again."
Tennessee ended a four-game losing streak, two of which came at home to then-No. 9 Kentucky and former No. 5 Louisville.
The Vols, who are 0-3 on the road in the SEC, blew an eight-point lead early in the second half but never fell too far behind.
Tennessee tied it twice in the last nine minutes before retaking the lead with 1:33 left on Justin Albrecht's two free throws.
After McFadgon added two more free throws to extend the lead to 64-61 with 13.8 seconds to go, Albrecht fouled Anthony Roberson shooting a 3-pointer.
Three free throws would have tied it, but Roberson missed the first and made the last two as the home crowd screamed.
Roberson then committed his fifth foul on C.J. Watson, who made the first of two free throws. Florida's Lee Humphrey missed a desperation jumper at the buzzer.
"Anthony Roberson is a clutch player. He couldn't make all three at the end, though," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "We had a chance to tie it at the end but didn't get a great shot."
Watson added 10 points for the Vols, who won for only the second time in eight meetings with Florida since 2001. McFadgon was 10-of-10 from the line.
Florida's Matt Walsh, who was booed every time he touched the ball after he was involved in a double technical in the second half, and Roberson finished with 17 points apiece and Christian Drejer added 10.
The Vols had 15 turnovers and shot 37 percent, but held the Gators to 39 percent. Tennessee had the rebounding edge 43-24.
"This game could have gone either way. We were fortunate," Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said. "You have to take care of your homecourt advantage."
Florida lost its lead midway through the first half and Tennessee started the second half with an 8-1 run to go ahead 40-32.
The Gators missed their first five field-goal attempts after halftime before Drejer's 3 with 13:32 left. That started a 16-4 run and Roberson ended it with another 3 to put Florida ahead 50-46 with 9:43 left.
The Gators couldn't extend the lead past four points, and Tennessee chipped away.
Tennessee trailed in the first half until a 12-1 run in which the Vols held the Gators scoreless for six minutes and Donovan received a technical foul.
Crump slammed in a rebound after Tennessee's Jemere Hendrix landed on top of Florida's Bonell Colas and stayed on his back until after the shot went down.
Donovan apparently thought a foul should have been called but the referee objected to his tone. McFadgon made both free throws to finish the run and put Tennessee ahead 29-19.
