NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points to lead five Volunteers in double figures, and Tennessee beat Florida 78-66 Friday to advance to the Southeastern Conference semifinals for a third straight tournament.
The Volunteers (18-7) won their second straight over Florida in the span of six days. The first gave the Vols a bye to the SEC quarterfinals, and they never trailed Friday to advance to Saturday’s semifinal against sixth-ranked Alabama, the SEC regular-season champ and an 85-48 winner over Mississippi State.
Yves Pons nearly had a triple-double with 11 points, eight rebounds and nine blocked shots that tied the SEC tournament single-game record set by Kentucky’s Andre Riddick in the 1993 title game. Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer each had 13 points for the Vols, and Josiah-Jordan James added 10 with nine rebounds.
Florida (14-8) lost for the second time in three games.
Tre Mann, who was 1 of 8 for two points in the first half, finished with a career-high 30 points for the Gators. Tyree Appleby added 14.
Tennessee beat Florida 65-54 last Sunday to split the season series and earn the bye over the Gators. The Vols seemingly picked up where they left off, taking the lead off a John Fulkerson dunk 16 seconds into the game. A 12-2 run capped by a Uros Plavsic putback gave Tennessee its biggest lead at 28-12 with 6:21 left.
Then the Vols went cold, hitting one of their final 11 shots. The Gators pulled within 31-22 at halftime with Appleby hitting a 3 with 1:14 remaining.
Play got heated with 17:10 left when Fulkerson had to be helped to the locker room after a pair of elbows to his head from Florida forward Omar Payne. Replays showed Payne caught Fulkerson’ with a left, forearm shiver to the face, then put his right elbow into Fulkerson’s head. Officials ejected Payne after review.
The Vols, who led 35-26 at the time, scored eight of the next 11 and pushed the lead to as much as 17. Fulkerson didn’t return and finished with eight points.
BIG PICTURE
Florida: The SEC’s best shooting team couldn’t outshoot the Vols as they shot only 34.5 % (20 of 58) compared to 46.% (28 of 60). The Gators also struggled with their composure a bit too. Not only was Payne ejected for the flagrant foul, they picked up another technical with 11:49 to go during a media timeout.
Tennessee: Pons, the SEC defensive player of the year as a junior last season, had a career-high in blocked shots while also tying the school’s single-game record by halftime with six. The Vols had an 11-5 edge in blocked shots.
UP NEXT
Tennessee hasn’t won this event since 1979. But the Vols now are a win away from reaching the championship game for a third straight tournament, not counting last year with the cancellation. First, they must beat Alabama, which handed the Vols their first loss this season 71-63 on Jan. 2 in Knoxville.
Florida now waits for its NCAA Tournament seeding that wasn’t helped much by a win Thursday over Vanderbilt.
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