Florida @ Tennessee preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2019 ) Tennessee 78, Florida 67

Florida finishes off a difficult two weeks with its toughest assignment yet, a trip to Knoxville on Saturday to battle top-ranked Tennessee. The Gators are looking to avoid their first three-game skid of the season, but they will have to come up with the performance of the season to take down the Volunteers, who have won a school-record 17 straight games.

Florida and Tennessee met a month ago in Gainesville and the Gators hung tough for most of the game before the Volunteers went on a 9-0 run in the last 44 seconds to pull out the 78-67 triumph. The Gators have struggled for much of the time since and they may have hit bottom Tuesday in a 76-62 loss to Auburn with a season-high 17 turnovers and a season-worst 20 percent (4-for-20) shooting performance from long distance. "Good teams execute important things," head coach Mike White told reporters afterward. "This current Gator team does not do that." The Volunteers hardly have the same issue as they have surged to the top of the rankings and are chasing program history behind an all-around effort, particularly from a sharp-shooting offense nailing at least 50 percent of their shots in 15 games.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT FLORIDA (12-10, 4-5 SEC): The Gators did shoot 46 percent overall against Auburn, but they were cold in the second half (36 percent) and the team's two leading scorers, KeVaughn Allen (12.9 ppg) and Noah Locke (11.4), each managed just 10 points. Florida ranks second-to-last in the SEC in scoring with just 68.7 points per game and they are barely producing enough assists (13.1 per game) to make up for their turnovers (12.0). Still, the defense is stingy enough to at least keep the Gators in games as they are giving up an SEC-best 63.4 points per contest -- eight opponents have failed to reach 60 points -- while holding opponents to 41 percent shooting from the field.

ABOUT TENNESSEE (21-1, 9-0): While Florida has been guilty of turning the ball over too many times, the Volunteers have been the conference's best at protecting it, averaging an SEC-best 10.3 turnovers in league play. Star forward Grant Williams (20.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and guard Admiral Schofield (16.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg) fill the stat sheet as they were both recently named to the Late Season Top 20 Watch List for the Wooden Award. Sophomore forward Yves Pons, who has started 13 games this season and is averaging 15.7 minutes per game, will sit out after suffering a facial fracture in Thursday's practice and his status will be re-evaluated next week.

TIP-INS

1. Tennessee leads the series with Florida 75-57 after winning the last two matchups. The Volunteers are in position for their first sweep of the Gators since the 2008-2009 season.

2. The Volunteers are aiming for their 18th straight victory, which would be the longest win streak in Rick Barnes' 32-year head-coaching career.

3. The Gators have never beaten a No. 1 team in the regular season.

PREDICTION: Tennessee 70, Florida 58