Tennessee Basketball went into the media timeout with 3:17 left in the first half Saturday at Florida with more turnovers than made shots. Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell had just committed the ninth of the half while the Vols had made only eight shots from the field.

It was still a one-possession game, somehow, with Florida leading by three. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long. 

Florida guard Boogie Fland scored five points in a span of 15 seconds late in the half, using another ugly Tennessee turnover to do so, and the Gators took over from there, closing the first half on a 15-2 run on the way to an 91-67 romp over the Vols at Exactech Arena in Gainesville.

For a second straight Saturday, Tennessee beat itself with one mistake after another.

The Vols didn’t score over the final 2:05 of the first half while committing 11 turnovers. They made just eight shots in the half and finished the game with 21 shots made and 18 turnovers, its second-highest total of the season. It all came a week removed from missing 11 foul shots and committing 14 turnovers in an 86-75 loss at Arkansas to start SEC play. 

Nate Ament led Tennessee (11-5, 1-2 SEC) with 17 points against the Gators. He scored nine in the first half but played only 11 minutes before the break after picking up two fouls. 

Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, but committed four turnovers. Jaylen Carey scored 11 points and had three rebounds and two turnovers and Bishop Boswell scored four points while committing a team-high six turnovers.

Florida (10-5, 1-1) got 23 from Fland to lead five Gators in double figures. Rueben Chinyelu had 17 points and 16 rebounds, Urban Klavzar had 13 points, Thomas Haugh scored 13 and Xaivian Lee had 10.

Gators led by as many as 25 points in second half

Ament scored to start the second half, but then picked up his third foul while Florida went on a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 18. He picked up his fourth foul at the 10:50 mark.

The game was tied at 26 with 3:51 left in the first half, but Tennessee would commit five turnovers before the end of the half. The Gators used the turnovers to go into halftime on a 15-2 run, including 10-0 over the final 2:05, to lead 41-28.

Florida took the lead for good at 29-26 on a Fland step-back three with 3:33 left in the first half. He stretched the lead to six with another three at the 1:44 mark, came up with a steal 10 seconds later, then scored on a layup in transition with 1:29 left in the half. 

Just like that, it was 36-28 Florida lead while Tennessee kept digging the hole deeper. 

Rick Barnes took a timeout after Fland’s five straight points, but the Vols had to take a second timeout after being unable to inbound the basketball. Boswell turned it over out of the second timeout. 

Florida got a three from Klavzar with 1:09 left in the half and Fland added another layup with 45 seconds to go to get the lead to 13.

Klavzar hit another three the 14:55 mark in the second half to make it a 20-point game and Fland hit another to stretch it to 24 with 13 minutes left.

Up Next: No. 21 Tennessee vs. Texas A&M, Tuesday

Tennessee dropped to 0-3 in true road games after the loss at Florida, following losses at Syracuse and Arkansas.

The Vols are back home for two games next week, hosting Texas A&M on Tuesday in a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network, then Kentucky on Saturday in a Noon Eastern Time start on ESPN. 

Tennessee does not have a midweek game after the Kentucky game, with the Vols off until they go to No. 13 Alabama on February 24, then to No. 18 Georgia on February 27.