Tennessee basketball is looking to break out of its two-game losing streak when they host No. 5 Florida in Knoxville on Saturday afternoon.
Florida handed the Vols their first loss of the season earlier this month in Gainesville in Tennessee’s lone lopsided loss of the season.
Here’s everything to know about the rivalry matchup.
More From RTI: Three Things To Watch For As Tennessee Basketball Faces Florida
How To Watch — No. 8 Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC) vs. No. 5 Florida (18-2, 5-2 SEC)
- Start Time: noon ET/11 a.m. CT
- Location: Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
- Watch: ESPN. PxP: Tom Hart, CC: Dane Bradshaw
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -4.5 Florida
- Over/under 140.5
- Tennessee -3 Florida
- Over/under: 139
What Tennessee HC Rick Barnes Said About The Gators
On what has to change for Tennessee on Saturday against Florida in comparison to the loss in Gainesville
“You know, things from game to game don’t change as much as probably people think they do. I mean, matchups, the way you’re played and all that. But in terms of winning basketball games, you have to take care of the fundamentals. You’ve got to rebound the ball, you’ve got to take care of the ball, you hope you make shots. I mean, that’s something that if you asked every coach before the game, if you could have one thing tonight, they’ll say let’s make a lot of shots. And you guys been around the game know that doesn’t always happen. But you got to be able to find a way to stay in games when you’re not making shots and hope at some point in time you make enough to help you win them.
“And our game plans are almost, we don’t ever want to let people get out and get easy baskets. So that’s transition, defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball. If you do that, and hopefully play defense where we’re capable of, it gives us a chance at the end to maybe win.”
Probable Starters
- 89-59 win versus Georgia
- 70-69 win at South Carolina
- 84-60 win versus Texas
- 83-82 loss versus Missouri
- 71-63 win at Arkansas
Prediction
Tennessee comes into Saturday’s rivalry matchup desperate for a victory. And that leads me to being conflicted about this one. Desperate teams in college basketball, particularly at home is a good recipe. That makes me like the Vols’ chances of bouncing back from a disappointing couple of games.
But Florida, with its balance on both ends of the court and physicality, is a bad matchup for Tennessee. The Gators are able to exploit some weaknesses in Tennessee that very few teams can, in my opinion.
I think Tennessee is a better shooting team than they’ve shown in recent games. I’ll bank on them bouncing back with a strong shooting performance and getting the win.
Tennessee 71, Florida 70
