By: Eric Fawcett -- January 26, 2025 Staying in the hunt for the top of the SEC the Florida Gators (18-2, 5-2 SEC) will take on the Tennessee Volunteers (17-3, 4-3 SEC at the time of publishing) for the second time this season on February 1st. Florida Versus Tennessee (Round Two) Basketball Preview | GatorCountry.com
I’m anticipating a close game. UT will be fired up and have home court. When you get embarrassed by a rival, that next game gets circled on the calendar with extra prep.
Would be nice to see Handlogten log some minutes in this one. He could be a difference maker with Auburn on the horizon.
Kentucky beat Tennessee tonight in Knoxville, dropping the Vols to 4-4 in the SEC. Their back are kind of against the wall when the Gators come to town Saturday. This is a huge game for both teams, but almost a must win for Tennessee. I hope our guys are ready to play and show that Golden is a better coach than Barnes.
Tennessee is going to be desperate. And they shot lousy at home, especially Zeigler. Methinks they are going to prove that isn't their team. Just need to score one more point than them.
This already was a tough game. Now IMO its the toughest one of the year. With UT's back against the wall.
I watched the last 3-4 minutes of that game last night and UTk looked as lost and discombobulated vs UK's #75 defence as they did vs ours. It's crazy as I would not have expected that team to be so easily rattled, but maybe it's become something that's creeping into that team's psychology. Seems like we have nothing to lose and they have everything to lose. Let's come out relaxed but on fire and rattle them again.
Looks like we have opportunities for at least 6 more quad 1 victories, though wins at UT, Auburn, and Bama sure won’t come easy.
The key is containing Zeigler. Everything runs through him when they are playing well. Make the other guys make decisions.
Sure feels like we match up well with them. It won't be 30 points, but if we play with physicality and its called similar to how the first game was, I sure like our chances.
It is always tough playing on the road in the SEC. 2-1 on the road, with one win at the buzzer and a single digit win against the other (and both those teams aren't close to Tennessee's caliber).
They were talking about checkerboarding the stands for Florida Saturday. I guess Kentucky wasn’t good enough to warrant this. They wiil be pulling out all the stops for this game, Remember the refs will get McDonalds bags of cash for a win in Knoxville. Get ready for grabbing, holding and pushing defense from the VOLS and getting touchy fouls continuiosly in the second half. Fyi
We were excellent in that regard last time. Martin and Aberdeen completely took away his ability to get to the rim or get off his lobs. We’ll see how they attack it this time.
Road BB games in the SEC are alwys tough and Tennessee is a very talented team. We beat them by 30 at home, but I expect this game to be a battle and will be happy with any kind of win. Just get the W.
