Sunday College Hoops: Florida @ Tennessee

The Florida Gators are fresh off of a 16 point blowout win against the Georgia Bulldogs. Now they will face a Tennessee Volunteers squad that is suddenly finding it hard to play in the SEC.

Tennessee started the season with a 15-2 record before losing 2 straight to Georgia and Vanderbilt. Both of these losses came as over 6 point favorites. Not a good sign for Bruce Pearl and the Vols. They have more than enough weapons offensively to hang with any team in the country, but they have serious issues on the defensive end of the floor. Allowing 78 to a Georgia Bulldogs team is a sign of their inconsistent play defensively. The Trio of Scotty Hopson, Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism have been extremely productive offensively. They average 37 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists per game, but have allowed that and more to opposing offenses.

They will need to pick up their defense in a big way in order to control the offensive attack of the Florida Gators. The Gators have been known over the past few years as a scoring machine, but ironically they have been winning games on defense this season. Allowing only 63.3 points per game is what has enabled this team to be in a 3rd place tie for the SEC despite losing several key players last season.

Florida has 5 players that average double-digits in scoring per game this season. They are led by Kenny Boynton who is averaging 15 points as well as 3 boards and 3 assists per game. Erving Walker and Alex Tyus are contributing over 25 points and 10 rebounds combined to make this starting unit of Florida’s very dangerous.

Tune in Sunday to see if the Volunteers can right the ship and get back on track in the SEC, or if the Gators are legitimate contenders for the Conference title.

Related posts:

1. Syracuse Orange v. Louisville Cardinals: Sunday College Hoops
2. 7/10 Seed Match-Up: Brigham Young/ Florida
3. No Tebow No Problem at Florida
4. SEC Showdown: Florida vs. Kentucky
5. Tennessee vs. Kentucky: SEC Showdown

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