University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Florida
Vols Fall To No. 8 Florida, 68-62
February 26, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb 26, 2002
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Udonis Haslem put a fitting close on his home career with No. 8 Florida, slamming home a monster dunk to cap a tense 68-62 victory over Tennessee on Tuesday night.
Brett Nelson made all four of his 3-pointers over the last 11 minutes to help the Gators (21-6, 10-5 Southeastern Conference) keep their slim hopes alive for the regular season title.
If Alabama beats Auburn on Wednesday, the Crimson Tide wins the championship outright.
Marcus Haislip scored 17 points for Tennessee (13-15, 6-9), which lost for the fourth straight time and is quickly seeing its postseason hopes slip away. The crowd of 12,062 sensed it, chanting "NIT, NIT, NIT" when the Vols took a timeout with 1.3 seconds left after the basket that made it 68-62.
Haslem, a senior, won his 96th game with the Gators, improving on a program record. But he struggled, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds. Double-covered constantly, he only took 10 shots.
Not until the end did his moment come, when he took a breakaway pass and jammed with both hands for a 68-60 lead with 19 seconds left. It was the first time the Gators felt comfortable with a lead all night.
Matt Bonner kept Florida in the game. He made six 3-pointers and led the Gators with 18 points despite playing most of the second half with a bad injury to his hip.
It hurt so much at one point that he couldn't sit up straight on the bench. But he returned to the game, and hit two of his 3-pointers, the second of which gave Florida a 58-55 lead with six minutes left.
The Vols twice pulled within one point, and each time, Nelson made 3s to extend it to four. He finished with 12 points after going scoreless for the first 29 minutes.
Jon Higgins made three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points for Tennessee. The Vols, already playing without starting forward Ron Slay, lost starting guard Jenis Grindstaff to a knee injury in the first minute.
