Tennessee men’s basketball coach Buzz Peterson has talked all season about how quiet his team is.
Outspoken or not, the Volunteers made plenty of noise Saturday, downing No. 22 Florida 65-63 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“This game could have gone either way,” Peterson said. “We were just very fortunate that things went our way.”
Lately, though, not many things have gone the Vols’ way. Before the win over the Gators, Tennessee had lost its last two at home to top-10 teams Kentucky and Louisville by the slim total of four points.
Vol point guard C.J. Watson said it was time a close game fell Tennessee’s way.
“It’s been frustrating to come so close and get nothing for it,” the sophomore said. “I think this is the win we needed.
“It should turn our season around.”
Tennessee (11-6, 3-4 SEC) needed something to keep its postseason hopes alive. The Vols were riding a four-game losing streak, leaving Peterson searching for answers to his team’s youth.
He may have found it with a new rotation.
The Vols went to the bench in the win over Florida (13-5, 4-3), as nine players saw substantial playing time.
“We were just trying to get a mismatch,” sophomore forward Jemere Hendrix said. “We just kept subbing in and out and they got frustrated. They didn’t know how to handle it.”
Over the game’s final four minutes, five different Vols scored. Only two Gators scored in that stretch – a three-point play by forward David Lee and the rest of the load carried by sophomore guard Anthony Roberson.
“We had several different people step up at the end,” Watson said. “We had to have that to win.”
After a three-minute scoring draught for the Vols, John Winchester nailed a 3-pointer to get Tennessee within one.
“I thought John Winchester’s (3-pointer) was huge,” Peterson said. “We had so many times that we couldn’t score, then he came in there.”
The Vols finally took the lead on a pair of Justin Albrecht free throws at the 1:33 mark, but they weren’t safe yet.
Tennessee was up 64-61 with five seconds left when Albrecht fouled Roberson on a 3-point attempt. Peterson had wanted a foul but said the timing was off.
“It was a bad decision,” Peterson said. “But it was a tough play and fortunately it worked out for us.
“I told him he needed to buy everyone dinner tonight.”
Roberson missed the first of the three shots, and the Vols went on to defeat Florida by two points, after being blown out by the Gators 95-57 in Gainesville on Jan. 10.
“A lot of things were going right for them that night,” Vol center Brandon Crump said. “Tonight they went right for us. We play tougher at home, that’s the bottom line.”
While home has been a place of comfort for the Vols, road games have been anything but. Tennessee has only one road win on the season, and will look for its second Wednesday when the Vols travel to LSU.
“I told them to put in their minds right now that their (LSU’s) court is orange and white,” Peterson said. “Good teams are going to win at home. Great teams are going to win on the road.”
For now, the Vols are playing good.
FLORIDA (13-5)
Moss 2-3 1-2 5, Lee 1-5 3-3 5, Walsh 4-12 7-11 17, Roberson 6-12 2-3 17, Drejer 4-9 0-0 10, Humphrey 1-5 0-0 3, Abukar 0-0 0-0 0, Al-Kaleem 0-0 0-0 0, Richard 0-0 0-0 0, Colas 1-2 4-4 6. Totals 19-48 17-23 63.
TENNESSEE (11-6)
Crump 5-8 1-4 11, Wingate 3-7 2-2 8, McFadgon 6-14 10-10 24, Winchester 2-5 1-2 6, Watson 2-9 6-8 10, Herndon 0-0 0-0 0, Asumnu 0-1 0-0 0, Bradshaw 0-3 0-0 0, Hendrix 1-3 2-2 4, Albrecht 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 19-51 24-30 65.
Halftime – Tennessee 32-31. Fouled out – Winchester, Roberson. Rebounds – Florida 24 (Lee 7), Tennessee 43 (Crump 11). Assists – Florida 13 (Roberson, Drejer 4), Tennessee 15 (McFadgon, Watson 3). Total fouls – Florida 23, Tennessee 18.
A-15,842.
