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10:03 pm | January 12, 2019 | Go to Source | Author: Pat Dooley

Florida guard Jalen Hudson puts up points in the first half Saturday against Tennessee at Exatech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. [Cyndi Chambers/Gainesville Sun Correspondent]

What happened: The Gators battled all night and had a chance at the end, but again failed to win a close game against the third-ranked Vols.

Florida got a steal late in the game down two, but Noah Locke missed a 3 with 1:09 to play. Tennessee (14-1, 3-0 SEC) then went on a 9-0 run to close out the game.

Florida led 38-35 at the half thanks to nine made 3-pointers. But the Gators missed 10 of their first 13 shots to start the second half and fell behind by five.

The Gators (9-6, 1-2) fought back to take a 63-60 lead on a KeVaughn Allen 3, bit Tennessee scored seven straight points, five of them by Jordan Bowden.

Double figures:

KeVaughn Allen, Florida 18 points

Noah Locke, Florida 16 points

Grant Williams, Tennessee 20 points

Jordan Bowden, Tennessee 17 points

Admiral Schofield, Tennessee 14 points

Lamonte Turner, Tennessee 12 points

Inside the box score: Andrew Nembhard had a strange game indeed. He missed eight of nine shots, including a pair of wide-open layups, but did have five assists.

Next up: Florida is back on the road for a Tuesday game with Mississippi State at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs are 12-3 and 0-2 in the SEC after an 81-77 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday.

No. 3 TENNESSEE 78, FLORIDA 67
TENNESSEE (14-1)

Williams 8-11 3-4 20, Schofield 6-11 0-0 14, Alexander 1-2 0-0 2, Pons 1-3 0-0 3, Bone 3-8 0-0 8, Fulkerson 1-1 0-0 2, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Turner 4-8 2-3 12, Bowden 5-11 6-7 17. Totals 29-55 11-14 78.

FLORIDA (9-6)

Hayes 2-3 4-7 8, Allen 6-9 1-1 18, Hudson 1-7 0-0 2, Locke 4-10 4-4 16, Nembhard 1-10 0-0 2, K.Johnson 2-4 0-0 5, Bassett 1-3 4-4 7, Stone 0-4 4-5 4, Ballard 2-4 0-0 5, Okauru 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 17-21 67.

Halftime_Florida 38-35. 3-Point Goals_Tennessee 9-23 (Schofield 2-5, Bone 2-5, Turner 2-6, Williams 1-1, Bowden 1-3, Pons 1-3), Florida 12-32 (Allen 5-6, Locke 4-9, K.Johnson 1-2, Ballard 1-3, Bassett 1-3, Stone 0-2, Nembhard 0-3, Hudson 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Tennessee 32 (Williams 9), Florida 23 (Hayes 7). Assists_Tennessee 15 (Bone 5), Florida 11 (Nembhard 5). Total Fouls_Tennessee 19, Florida 16.