Florida Gators
Tennessee
Gators Fall To Vols, 86-76
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Chris Lofton scored 21 points, and Tennessee pulled away from No. 5 Florida in the first half and held on for an 86-76 victory Tuesday night.
The Gators (25-5, 12-3 Southeastern Conference) have lost three of four after a 17-game winning streak.
Al Horford led Florida with 17 points while Chris Richard and Corey Brewer had 12 apiece. Joakim Noah added 11 rebounds and Horford had 10. For Horford, it was his team-high 12th double-double of the year.
But this was the Volunteers' night.
With Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt dressing as a cheerleader and singing "Rocky Top" and Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning watching his alma mater, Tennessee (21-9, 9-6) finished the season 16-0 at home.
The Vols controlled the game until the Gators started making a run late in the second half.
Tennessee had a 17-0 run in the first half and were ahead by 19 points at halftime and as many as 27 in the second half.
The Vols were leading 65-40 with 11:54 left when Florida had a 14-2 run that included eight points by Noah. His dunk with 9:22 remaining cut it to 67-54.
Tennessee scored again, but the Gators answered with a 7-0 run to pull to 69-61 with 6:08 to go. A drive by Lofton started a 6-0 run for the Vols, and the Gators couldn't get any closer.
The Gators rallied from 18 points down against Alabama on Feb. 14 to win 76-67. It was the biggest deficit overcome by a team coached by Billy Donovan, and they looked poised for another miracle comeback.
After pulling to within eight, the Gators cut it to nine three more times, but the final 1:58 featured seven trips to the foul line for Tennessee. The Vols went 8-of-14 in free throws down the stretch.
Florida closes out the regular season on Sunday at noon when Kentucky comes to town, as UF will try and finish a perfect 18-0 at the O'Connell Center.
