Colleges

Gators' statement trails off

UF, needing an impressive win, lets a big lead slip away.

By Antonya English, Times Staff Writer
Published March 6, 2008

Florida's Walter Hodge drives past Tyler Smith during the first half, when the Gators took a 55-42 lead.
	[Brian Cassella | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Brian Cassella | Times] From left, Duke Crews, Alex Tyus, Dan Werner and Tyler Smith battle for a rebound late in the game. [Brian Cassella | Times] Florida's Marreese Speights tips a rebound away from Tennessee's Wayne Chism during the second half.

GAINESVILLE -With just under six minutes remaining in its game against archrival Tennessee on Wednesday night, Florida's NCAA Tournament hopes began slipping further away.

Members of the UF student section begged the Gators to "fight for it."

They gave it a shot, but in the end there wasn't enough fight left.

Trailing all of the first half and by 13 at halftime, No. 4 Tennessee rallied for an 89-86 victory.

"We played about as well as we could have possibly played," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Our problem was we had a real difficult time matching up with them."

The Gators missed a chance to get a signature victory that it needs to bolster its NCAA Tournament hopes. Florida travels to Kentucky on Sunday to face a Wildcats team that is playing well, having won 10 of 12, and then SEC tournament follows.

The Vols 27-3, 13-3 clinched their first outright SEC title since 1967.

"This is a very special place to come win championships," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "When you win a title like this, it isn't about your team, but about the respect you have for the competition."

The game was nearly a mirror image of the Feb. 5 matchup in Knoxville. And much like the first meeting, the Vols wouldn't go quietly and the Gatorsfaltered in the second half.

Trailing 69-65 with 8:48 left, Tennessee went on a 14-0 run to take a 79-69 lead. During that run, Tennessee's JaJuan Smith scored eight of his 23.

The Gators (21-9, 8-7) rallied to tie it at 85 on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Nick Calathes (24 points, nine assists) with 1:47 left. The Vols' Smith missed two free throws with 44.1 seconds left, but Tyler Smith's rebound off the second miss and a layup gave the Vols an 87-85 lead.

Sophomore center Marreese Speights (21 points, seven rebounds) made one of two free throws with 27.2 seconds left, pulling the Gators within 87-86, and Tennessee got two free throws from 55 percent free-throw shooter Wayne Chism with 18.5 seconds left. Calathes missed a long 3-pointer at the end.

Tyler Smith finished with 13 points and senior guard Chris Lofton added 13.

"Give them credit, the difference in the game was Tyler Smith in the second half, JaJuan Smith and Lofton - they really made some difficult shots," Donovan said.

Florida shot 59.6 percent (47.6 on 3-pointers) and had 22 assists. The Vols shot 52.4 percent and 45 percent respectively.

The Gators got exactly what they needed in the first half. Florida shot 8-of-8 in the first six minutes of the game, and junior guard Walter Hodge (16 points) scored 11 of UF's first 16 points.

"Florida could not have played better in the first 20 minutes," Pearl said. "We were down 13, which is the largest deficit we've been down in a half all season. We extended a little bit more in the second half, pressed out and they didn't get as many open shots as they did in the first half."

Florida 86

[Last modified March 6, 2008, 01:04:13]