Adams: Vols' depth, accuracy impress Donovan : govolsxtra.com

Florida didn't have any answers for Tennessee in the last 10 minutes at Thompson-Boling Arena, but its coach had plenty of answers afterwards.

Was it a lack of depth or defense? Was it too many 3-point shooters for the Vols and not enough of them for the Gators?

Coach Billy Donovan's explanation: All of the above.

But the coach of Florida's two-time defending national champions mentioned depth first after UT's finishing charge turned a close game into a 104-82 victory Tuesday night.

"I thought our kids really battled and competed hard," Donovan said. "It was probably a game in which maybe we didn't have quite enough depth, and maybe some of our guys ran out of gas. When we subbed, we had bad matchups."

Florida's minutes played told part of the story. Its five starters all played at least 32 minutes. Conversely, only two UT players played more than 26 minutes.

"But that's what a good team does," Donovan said. "They had a lot of answers at a lot of different spots."

The answers weren't so obvious until the last 9:22 when the seventh-ranked Vols outscored the Gators 33-14. The Vols hit from inside and outside in that final run, which showcased their talent and depth against the Gators, who lost all five starters from their last national championship team.

The 22-point loss came just three days after Arkansas beat Florida 80-61.

"In the Arkansas game, we weren't making shots and it affected us defensively," Donovan said. "Tonight (against UT), we shot really well and still lost by 20.

"I don't know if it's a lack of ability. But we have not bought into really defending like we need to defend."

Whatever the Gators lacked on defense, they made up on offense in the first half when they hit 64.3 percent of their shots in taking a 48-44 lead. But their shooting faltered in the second half.

Star freshman guard Nick Calathes, who had 12 of his 15 points in the first half, didn't make a field goal in the second half. His stat line was still impressive: 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Dan Werner, who had 12 of his 18 points in the first half, and Calathes repeatedly came up short on their shots in the second half. But center Marreese Speights was a force inside from start to finish, scoring 23 points and claiming nine rebounds.

"That's a very good team," Speights said. "You can see how they're ranked in the top 10. But we had a chance.

"I really don't know what happened (in the last 10 minutes)."

Werner had a better explanation: Tyler Smith. Smith scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half.

"He's just a competitor," Werner said. "He's a great player. He can do it all.

"I love going against guys like that. It makes you better."

Florida, which starts two freshmen and no seniors, also had problems on the perimeter, where it couldn't match Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith. UT's senior guards combined for 49 points and made 12 of 23 3-point tries.

"They made hard shots," Donovan said. "And you can't say it's luck, because they do it every game."

"You have two great shooters in Lofton and JaJuan Smith. And Tyler Smith is a really hard matchup.

"They've got a lot of really good pieces to the puzzle."

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

Adams: Vols' depth, accuracy impress Donovan

Gators, coach say UT made the tough shots