GAINESVILLE, Fla. — To review: Which team entered Tuesday night’s Southeastern Conference heavyweight top-10 matchup ranked first nationally in defense?

And which was the No. 1 team in the country again?

Why ask? Because eighth-ranked Florida stifled top-ranked Tennessee with a 21 percent shooting percentage, including just four of 29 from the 3-point line — that’s 13.8 percent — and held the undefeated Volunteers to nearly 27 points below their season average. When the smoke (and the carnage) cleared, the Gators had obliterated the Vols 73-43 in front of an insane sellout crowd at Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center that not only recorded only the third win in program history over a No. 1 seed Opponents in first place – and first at home – but the most one-sided defeat for a team at the top Tied together Press Survey in 58 years.


That’s right. Since Lew Alcinder and UCLA defeated Elvin Hayes and No. 1 Houston 101-69 in the 1968 NCAA semifinals.


“I think we just brought the physicality tonight,” the second-year forward said Alex Condon said. “They are a very physical team and the referees let it slide tonight. I think that was the key to victory.”


The game was never close as the Gators (14-1, 1-1) outscored their league rival by the first dozen points and never looked back. Fifth Guard Aliyah Martin He led all scorers with 18 points and six rebounds, with Condon recording his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Backup point guard Denzel Aberdeen As a center, he scored a season-high of 16 points Rueben Chinyelu Grabbed 15 rebounds and led a UF interior attack that outscored the physical Vols (14-1, 1-1) 40-14 and outrebounded them 55-38, including 19-13 on offense at the end.

Few could have seen this coming. UF coach Todd Goldenwho has always believed, saw signs of serious recovery after Saturday’s disappointing, largely defenseless performance in a 106-100 loss to No. 10 Kentucky in SEC opener.

“We knew this was going to be a really challenging game for us, but we also think we’re at the point where we expect to win these types of games,” Golden said after playing (alongside Billy Donovan) became the program’s second player to beat a top-tier team. “I know when you host the No. 1 team in the country it’s hard to say you expect to win, but I think our program has proven itself heading into this game tonight. We had good preparation. I thought we had a really good mentality. “A good shoot (Tuesday afternoon) and our guys were just ready for it. You can tell if the guys are nervous or not preparing properly and I thought we were really stuck. I thought that showed our performance.”


At both ends. No, the Gators weren’t the fast-paced offense that ranked 3rd in offensive efficiency entering the game, but their defensive numbers plummeted after the poor performance against the Wildcats. UF shot 39.7 percent against UT and went just six of 20 from the 3-point line (30 percent). But those numbers were better than the 34.9 and 24.3, respectively, that the Vols had allowed in their first 13 games. Florida’s 73 points (leading). Walter Clayton Jr. (held to seven, all at halftime) scored the most goals against Tennessee this season and 14 more than the Vols’ 55.9 allowed per game.


But it was Florida’s defensive end that turned the game on its head.


“I thought they were great,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of the home team.


The UF defense that came out against UT looked nothing like the one that had been sliced ​​and diced three days earlier at Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats shot 58 percent and bombed 13 from distance.


Guess what Golden and the Gators talked about most beforehand.


“We were more focused and more focused on the scout,” Martin said. “I just saw something different in everyone’s eyes. We looked at the players’ tendencies and everyone seemed stuck. If we can do that in every game, we will be great.”


This time they were undoubtedly great in defense. It took more than seven minutes for UT to score its first field goal. The Vols trailed 34-15 at halftime after going 4 of 29 overall and missing all 14 of their three-pointers. SEC scoring leader Chaz Lanier, who averaged 20.2 points per game, only managed two points.


“At halftime we talked about the defensive game plan and what we needed to do better,” Aberdeen said.


Do better than four field goals allowed?


“We basically said when we came out in the second half that we let (North Carolina last month) come back a little bit, and we weren’t happy with our defensive performance in the second half against Kentucky,” Condon said. “That’s why it was very important for us to go full throttle in the second half.”


Less than four minutes into the locker room, the Gators’ lead was 25. With six minutes left, it was 36. When the final buzzer sounded, the Vols had just 12 field goals and, at 128, their fewest points in 10 games with Barnes on the season the sidelines in Tennessee.


“We were dominant from start to finish,” Golden said.


As the final seconds ticked away, the O’Dome celebrated something never seen before in the program’s history: a No. 1 takedown on home soil.

“It was obviously a great game for us. I’m incredibly proud of our players and our staff because we prepared really well for this game and I thought our guys did everything we asked of them and more.” and they were the reason why we got this result,” Golden said after the program improved to 3-17 all-time against ranked opponents. “But our biggest problem is that this cannot be the highlight of our season. It’s great at the moment and we’re going to enjoy it tonight.”

Then it’s back to the gym to begin preparations for Saturday’s road trip to Arkansas, just the third game of an 18-game SEC minefield that already includes two games against top-10 teams.

And one (like #1) for the history books.

Email senior author Chris Harry at [email protected]