A walk on the wild side

Tennessee continues its walk on the wild side tonight in perhaps the wildest joint of them all.

"It's a hard place to play,'' said UT sophomore Chris Lofton. "The fans are loud and the cheering section is rowdy.''

He was talking about Florida's O'Connell Center, where the 10th-ranked Vols (19-4, 10-2 SEC) mix it up with the 12th-ranked Gators (22-4, 8-4). A win tonight would clinch the SEC East and a No. 1 seed at the SEC tournament. UT would have a three-game lead over the Gators with three to play and wins the tiebreaker.

WVLT has the telecast at 8 p.m.

But Lofton could also have been referring to Kentucky, Georgia or Alabama, the other stops on Tennessee's amazing SEC journey through February.

All were sold-out. All were rocking. All were poised to pop Tennessee's bubble. Only Alabama succeeded.

"It doesn't get any easier this week,'' said coach Bruce Pearl.

No, it doesn't.

Florida will be chomping to avenge an 80-76 loss in Knoxville on Jan. 21.

Both teams are coming off disappointments last time out. While Florida lost in overtime at Arkansas, the Vols were manhandled 92-79 at Alabama.

"One great thing about losing,'' said UT's Dane Bradshaw, "is that we all took it pretty hard.

"We're 10-2 and we're pretty upset about it. We're looking to redeem ourselves.''

Redemption will not come cheap against a deep, athletic, talented Florida team.

The Vols must show more poise on offense than they did at Alabama, as well as more tenacity on defense.

It won't be easy in a hostile environment like the 12,000-seat O-Dome.

"There's nothing wrong with having Florida or Alabama playing really well and having their crowd elevate their play,'' Pearl said.

"But it shouldn't affect our play. We are experienced.

"And we'll learn from our successes and failures in hostile environments.''

The Vols need a big bounce-back tonight from center Major Wingate, who played poorly at Alabama.

They also need a better defensive effort from point guard C.J. Watson. Alabama's Ronald Steele had a field day and Florida's Taurean Green, the SEC assist leader, is capable of doing the same.

"C.J. has got no choice other than to be pretty good or we'd be exposed,'' said Pearl.

"We're not going to change our game plan, but we have to change our execution.

"The things we wanted to do against Alabama are the things we still have to do against Florida.''

And then there's the Lofton factor.

Lofton has been on fire the past four games, averaging 27.8 points and hitting an eye-popping 29-of-41 from 3-point range.

And three of those games were on the road.

Pearl is concerned with getting more shots for Lofton (he's averaging 14.7 attempts in his hot streak).

"If (Duke's) Mike Krzyzewski was coaching Chris Lofton, he'd be doing a better job of getting him looks than I'm doing.

"And Chris has to work on getting himself open more. And on top of that he's getting held every play.''

Lofton acknowledges he's getting held away from the ball, which is nothing new.

"I'm used to it (from high school),'' he said, "but it's harder in college. The athletes are bigger, faster and stronger.''

Scouting Report: Former Maryville High School standout Lee Humphrey has been coming off the bench for the Gators since he suffered a shoulder injury Jan. 29. Still, Humphrey has played at least 25 minutes in each of the past four games.

The Gators are 15-1 at home, losing only to South Carolina. Since the Gamecocks swept Florida this year, Pearl said UT has studied those tapes looking for insight.

Notebook: Both teams will wear "throwback" uniforms. ... The Vols staged an overtime upset, 83-76, last year in Gainesville. ... The March 1 Kentucky game is sold out and only a few tickets remain for Saturday's Arkansas game.