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No. 2 Tennessee Ripped for Shooting by CBB Twitter in Loss vs. Unranked Florida

Feb. 1, 2023
No. 2 Tennessee Ripped for Shooting by CBB Twitter in Loss vs. Unranked Florida

Colin Castleton scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the unranked Florida Gators men's basketball team to a 67-54 home win over the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday.

Tennessee took a 46-42 lead after a Zakai Zeigler jumper with 9:01 remaining, but it was all Florida from there. The Gators went on a 13-0 run buoyed by Castleton, who had five points and a pair of assists on two three-pointers during that stretch.

This Castleton three-point play put Florida up 50-46.

Zeigler's three-pointer with 4:22 remaining in regulation stopped the run and sliced the lead to 55-49. The two teams then traded empty possessions before Castleton's three-point play put Florida up nine with 3:25 left.

He then added a putback layup off his own miss on Florida's next offensive chance to put the Gators back up double digits. Florida never led by fewer than nine points for the remainder of the game.

Castleton's performance sunk the Vols, but Tennessee ultimately lost because of a game-long shooting drought.

Tennessee made just 27.9 percent of its field goals and five of 25 three-pointers. Zeigler led the Vols with 15 points but shot just 6-of-19. Olivier Nkamhoua (4-of-13), Santiago Vescovi (2-of-12) and Josiah-Jordan James (2-of-11) also had tough outings.

The Vols have excelled this season largely because of a defense that ranks first in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom.com. Their offense doesn't rank as well (No. 40 in efficiency), but that hasn't held the Vols back despite the team entering Wednesday shooting just 44.65 percent (No. 177 out of 363 D-I teams).

Tennessee hit its offensive low point Wednesday, however, and Twitter took note.

Despite the loss, the 18-4 Vols are still tied for second with Auburn and Texas A&M for second in the SEC at 7-2. Those three teams all look up at Alabama (9-0, 19-3).

Florida moved into a fourth-place tie with Kentucky at 6-3. The Gators improved to 13-9 overall as well.


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