University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Notes
January 15, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2003
Tennessee vs. Florida
Jan. 15, 2003
O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records
* Tennessee falls to 8-4 (1-2 SEC), while Florida improves to 13-2 (3-0 SEC)
* Vols are 1-3 on the road this season (1-1 SEC) ... UT defeated Georgia Tech 70-69 in Atlanta on a neutral site (Philips Arena)
* Vols are 0-2 vs. team ranked in the Top 25 this season (Kentucky, Florida)
Series Notebook
* Tennessee leads the all-time series 58-45
* UF leads the series 28-20 in games played in Gainesville ... Gators have won 11 of last 12 vs. UT in Gainesville
* UT's last win in series was a 76-73 OT win at Knoxville in 2000
* Vols' last win at Gainesville was a 81-79 2OT decision in 2000
* UF has won the last five meetings ... Three of last six meetings have been decided in overtime
* UF swept season series last year: (104-100 OT in Knoxville; 68-62 at Gainesville)
Slay Becomes 26th Vol to Amass 1200 Points; Moves to No. 24 on UT Scoring List
* With 17 points tonight, Slay became the 26th UT player to score 1200 career points (1212)
* Moved to No. 24 on the Vols' all-time scoring list, passing Don Johnson (1196), Greg Bell (1198), Gary Carter (1199), Howard Wood (1201), Len Kosmalski (1202) ... Slay enter tonight's game with 1195 points
* Entered game as the SEC's leading scorer (22.0 ppg)
* Slay's 24 FG attempts and 8 three-point FG attempts tonight are career-highs
* 62nd career game of scoring double figures, including all 12 games this season
Higgins Continues Long-Range Touch
* Four 3-point FGs tonight--three in first half (4-of-10 for the game)
* Higgins ranks fourth on UT's all-time 3-point FGs made list with 185
* 10-of-18 from long range last three games (.556)
* 28th career game in double figures and sixth time this season (third consecutive game)
* Averaging 15.0 ppg last three games
Watson Plays 40
* Played entire game--40 minutes (first career complete game) ... First Vol this season to play 40 mintues
* Recorded 14 points and dished out 5 assists ... Hit 4-of-6 from the field
* In three SEC games this season, Watson has scored 46 points (15.3 ppg)
Quickly
* Derek Stribling's 8 points tonight are a career-high in SEC play
* UT's 23 first-half points were a season-low (previous: 26 vs. Gardner-Webb, Nov. 22)
* Vols did not shoot a free throw in the first half ... UT shot a season-low 9 free throws for the game (7-of-9) ... 7 FTs made also a season-low
* UT had three players play 30 or more minutes (Watson-40, Slay-39, Higgins-39)
* Vols had more FGs than Gators (25-24), but trailed in 3-pointers 10-7 and FTs made (19-7) * F Stanley Asumnu (ankle) is probable for Saturday's game
Next Game
* UT returns home Saturday to host intrastate rival Vanderbilt (7:30 p.m.-EST)
