Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | January 07, 2025

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team dropped its first game of the 2024-25 campaign, falling at eighth-ranked Florida, 73-43, Tuesday night in its SEC road opener.

Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, who grabbed a co-season-high seven rebounds, and senior guard Zakai Zeigler scored 10 points apiece to lead top-ranked Tennessee (14-1, 1-1 SEC) at a sold-out, over-capacity Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Florida (14-1, 1-1 SEC) raced out to a 12-0 lead in the opening 6:18, as the Volunteers missed their initial nine shots. They got on the board with a pair of free throws at the 13:19 mark and then made the first field goal with 12:38 on the timer.

Tennessee forced nine consecutive misses on the defensive end and clawed within six, but the Gators then made back-to-back 3-pointers—the first by either side—in 34 seconds to go back up by a dozen, 18-6, with 9:51 to play in the half. They continued to extend their lead from there and pushed it to 19, 34-15, at the break.

The Volunteers missed their final 10 field-goal attempts of the session and went into the locker room with a 4-of-29 (13.8 percent) ledger, including a 0-of-14 mark beyond the arc. Despite the offensive struggles, Tennessee did turn in a strong half defensively, holding Florida to 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) shooting, including a 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) tally on 3-pointers.

Tennessee opened the second-half scoring after 50 seconds with its first 3-pointer of the night, but Florida scored the next nine points in 2:08 to go up by 25, 43-18, with 16:24 to go and squash any comeback hopes for the visitors.

The Gators stretched the margin as high as 36, 64-28, with 6:14 to play as the Tennessee offense could not find any footing. The Volunteers did score the next seven points and keep Florida off the scoreboard for three-plus minutes, as they continued to compete despite the cold shooting.

Florida ultimately held Tennessee to their lowest point total (43) and field-goal percentage (21.4; 12-of-56) of Rick Barnes‘ 10-year tenure. The Volunteers also shot just 13.8 percent (4-of-29) from 3-point range.

The Volunteers limited Florida to a 39.7 percent (27-of-68) clip from the floor, including a 30.0 percent (6-of-24) ledger from deep, but the shooting woes and a minus-17 margin, 55-38, on the glass were far too much to overcome on the road against a top-10 team.

Graduate student guard Alijah Martin led all scorers with 18 points for the Gators and junior guard Denzel Aberdeen notched 16. Sophomore forward/center Alex Condon had 12 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore center pulled down a game-best 15 rebounds, the most by a Tennessee foe in 2024-25.

Tennessee now travels to Austin, Texas, for a second straight road game, as it takes the Moody Center court Saturday at 6 p.m. ET against Texas, live on ESPN.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Saturday marked the 17th game in program history with Tennessee ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll, as it fell to 14-3, including 13-2 in Barnes’ tenure.
• The Volunteers also dropped to 28-5 all-time while ranked top-three in the AP Poll, including 24-3 under Barnes.
• The Volunteers fell to 5-5 in SEC road openers during Barnes’ 10-year tenure, including 4-3 in the last seven such games.
• Tennessee is now 30-23 in AP top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 23-16 with both teams in the top 20, 14-10 with both in the top 15 and 7-7 with both in the top 10.
• In its last 31 AP top-25 matchups, Tennessee owns a 20-11 record, including an 11-6 ledger with both teams in the top 15.
• The Volunteers fell to 16-6 in their last 22 games against AP top-15 opponents, dating to Dec. 22, 2021, including 8-5 versus AP top-10 teams in that span.
• The Volunteers’ 14-0 start to begin the season, which came to an end Tuesday, matched 1922-23 for their best opening to a campaign ever.
• Tennessee’s prior lowest point total under Barnes was 46 on Feb. 4, 2023, in a three-point victory over Auburn, while the last time it 43 or fewer was Jan. 10, 2015, when it totaled 38 against Alabama.
• The previous lowest field-goal clip for the Volunteers in Barnes’ tenure was 25.0 percent (15-of-60) versus Memphis on Dec. 14, 2019.
• The Volunteers’ last defeat by 30-plus points was March 18, 2011, against Michigan in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 in Charlotte, N.C.
• The last time Tennessee did not lead in a game was March 15, 2024, against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Nashville, Tenn., while this is just the second time in 2024-25 the Volunteers did not lead by 18-plus in a contest.
• Florida became the first team to have multiple players with double-digit rebounds against Tennessee since Noah Clowney (11) and Brandon Miller (10) did so for top-ranked Alabama on Feb. 15, 2023, in what was also a top-10 showdown with the No. 1 team in the nation on the losing end.
• Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Volunteers’ 13.8 percent field-goal clip in the opening session marked their lowest tally in a half in Barnes’ 10-year tenure.
• Tennessee started 1-of-15 from the floor, including missing all six of its 3-point attempts, in the first 10-and-a-half minutes, while Florida opened with a 4-of-16 mark at the other end that included misses on all four of its long-range tries.
• The teams combined for three streaks of at least nine consecutive missed field goals in the first half, including one each way within the first 11 minutes.
• Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., became the first Tennessee opponent to record five assists versus the Volunteers.
• Chinyelu’s 15 rebounds surpassed the 12 by both Miami’s Lynn Kidd (Dec. 10, 2024, in New York) and Illinois’ Tomislav Ivisic (Dec. 14, 2024) for the most by a Tennessee opponent this year.
• Tennessee’s prior lowest point total in a single half this season was 22 before the break in a Nov. 21 matchup with Virginia in Nassau, Bahamas.
• The Volunteers made their first 3-pointer 50 seconds into the second half, snapping a streak of 11 consecutive misses total across 7:13 and ending a 0-of-15 long-range skid to begin the evening.
• In the first 35 minutes of the contest, Tennessee shot 7-of-49 from the field, including 1-of-24 beyond the arc.
• Before Tuesday, Tennessee’s largest deficit of the season was eight points, as it conceded an 8-0 game-opening run Dec. 14 at Illinois.
• Tennessee has conceded 35 or fewer first-half points in 14 of its 15 outings thus far, including 29 or fewer on nine occasions and 21 or fewer four times.
• Lanier’s seven rebounds matched his season high, equaling the mark he set Dec. 17, 2024, versus Western Carolina.