Tennessee basketball rallies in second half to top Florida, stay perfect at home
Santiago Vescovi had the ball in his left hand when he left his feet on one side of the rim.
The Tennessee basketball guard finished the play with his right hand on the other side of the rim Wednesday. He spun a go-ahead layup under a block attempt from Florida’s Phlandrous Fleming Jr. and off the backboard, putting the Vols ahead for good.
No. 20 Tennessee (14-5, 5-3 SEC) came back and held on to top Florida (12-8, 3-5) in a 78-71 win at Thompson-Boling Arena. UT is 11-0 at home.
Vescovi led the Vols with 23 points. He hit five 3-pointers.
Zakai Zeigler had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. The freshman knocked down two key 3-pointers in the first half.
Tennessee had four second-half turnovers after having 11 in the first half, which led to 17 Florida points and a 13-point deficit.
It's free-throw time in Tennessee
Tennessee missed its first free throw when Victor Bailey Jr. bricked the front end of a one-and-one. The Vols made their next 17 attempts to finish 17 of 18.
Entering Wednesday, UT was shooting 67.4% at the free-throw line, which ranks No. 12 in the SEC.
John Fulkerson makes winning plays
John Fulkerson tossed a bank shot over Florida’s Anthony Duruji with 8:31 to play to put UT ahead 61-55.
The senior forward, who has come off the bench in the past two games, had seven points down the stretch. He extended Tennessee’s lead to 68-62 when he converted an and-one, getting a defender in the air and then making the shot. He pump-faked under a Florida defender and shot-put a shot in for a 70-64 lead.
Justin Powell makes an impact in the second half
Justin Powell didn’t score in the second half, but the sophomore guard made a mark with defense, playmaking and rebounding.
Powell drove down the baseline and snuck a bounce pass by the Florida defense to Vescovi in the corner. Vescovi rattled a 3-pointer in, the second time Tennessee trimmed Florida’s lead to one in the second half.
Powell had a steal on the previous defensive possession. He had another that led to Vescovi’s go-ahead layup. He grabbed an offensive rebound after Fulkerson tipped the ball out, which set up a Josiah-Jordan James 3-pointer. He later hustled to grab a rebound as the ball headed out of bounds.
First-half droughts slow Vols
Tennessee slogged through two first-half scoring droughts of at least six minutes, including one in which it did not attempt a shot for 4:54.
The first half featured a handful of offensive spurts and the pair of offensive dry spells. Tennessee had a miserable turnover stretch early in the game with seven turnovers in 4:33, which sparked a 15-0 Florida run. The Vols went scoreless for 6:12.
UT got hot behind two-way play from Zeigler, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and had a block and steal in a quick span. The Vols got within 26-24 after a Powell 3-pointer.
But the Vols did not score for 6:03 after Powell’s 3-pointer as Florida went on another run.
Vescovi hit back-to-back 3-pointers to end that stretch after re-entering with two fouls. He had 14 first-half points with four 3-pointers.
Up next
Tennessee plays at Texas in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basketball rallies in second half to top Florida
