Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, an SEC clash will tip off between the red-hot No. 3 Florida Gators (21-2, 10-0 SEC) and the Tennessee Volunteers (15-8, 6-4 SEC) that can be live streamed free by clicking this link. Gators fans can listen to the game on ESPN 850 WRUF, while Volunteers fans may do the same on 92.9 FM ESPN.
The Gators are currently on a 15-game tear, and walloped Tennessee in the first meeting of the year between these two teams by a score of 67-41. To avoid a similar outcome the Vols must figure out a way to withstand Florida's suffocating defense, which Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin called the best he's seen in his tenure.
"All those guys, (defense) has always been their makeup," Martin said. "You look at the previous years, they've never been go-to guys as far as scoring baskets for them. Now they're scoring the ball and defending at a high level. I think that's the biggest key. They've all bought into defending at a high level and they've figured this is the best way for us to be the best team to get where we're trying to go."
Tennessee's leading scorer Jordan McRae was harassed into a horrible shooting night in the first go-round, but he seems to be chomping at the bit for another crack at one of the nation's best teams.
"We want to go out there and just play hard," McRae said. "I feel (the first time) against Florida, when we got down a lot, we stopped playing hard toward the end. We want to play hard the whole game. Shots will fall. We've just got to continue to take good shots."
Gators coach Billy Donovan has put the first game in the rearview mirror though, recognizing that Tennessee is lethal from beyond the arc. They are also 11-2 at home, while Florida's only two losses have come on the road.
"If you look at their numbers at home from the 3-point line, they're pretty incredible," Donovan said. "They're not going to shoot that kind of percentage like they did (in Gainesville). They're at home. They're more comfortable."
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