Alijah Martin scored 18 points, Denzel Aberdeen added 16 and host No. 8 Florida thumped top-ranked Tennessee 73-43 on Tuesday night to knock off the last unbeaten team in Division I basketball.
Alex Condon chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Gators (14-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) beat a No. 1 team for the third time in school history — the first in six tries at home — and extended their home-winning streak to 16.
The result was the most lopsided victory against a No. 1 team since UCLA and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, beat Houston 101-69 in the 1968 Final Four.
“I have no idea some of the things I was looking out there watching,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “I don’t think it was our guys not trying to play hard. I just didn’t think we played very smart.”
Florida dominated from the opening tip. The Gators scored the first 12 points as the Volunteers (14-1, 1-1) missed their first nine shots.
Tennessee made four shots in the first 20 minutes and trailed by 36 points late.
The Vols’ leading scorer, Chaz Lanier, looked ordinary. Lanier, who spent the last four years playing at nearby North Florida before signing a name, image and likeness deal reportedly worth nearly $1 million to transfer to Tennessee, scored 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting.
“We didn’t want to give him no breathing room,” Martin said. “We know he’s an unbelievable talent, unbelievable shooter. And that was the game plan, just don’t give him no space. Don’t give nothing easy.”.
After allowing Kentucky to make 14 3-pointers in a 106-100 loss last week, the Gators held the Vols to 4 of 29 from behind the arc.
NO. 2 AUBURN 87, TEXAS 82: Johni Broome had 20 points and 12 rebounds as the visiting Tigers withstood a late Longhorns rally to give coach Bruce Pearl the school record for career wins.
Auburn (14-1, 2-0 SEC) led by 21 in the second half, and bullied the Longhorns with its size and length for long stretches, only to watch Texas fight back behind Arthur Kaluma and Jordan Pope to get within three in the final minute.
Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford made four free throws over the final 17 seconds to seal it.
Pearl earned victory No. 214 in his 11th season at Auburn, pushing him past Joel Eaves, who coached the Tigers from 1949-63.
Kaluma had 34 points for Texas (11-4, 0-2) on 12-of-16 shooting. Pope scored 17 of his 19 in the second half.
NO. 3 IOWA ST. 82, UTAH 59: Curtis Jones had 23 points off the bench to lead the Cyclones to a home victory over the Utes to extend their win streak to 10 games.
Jones also had five rebounds, six assists and two steals for Iowa State (13-1, 3-0 Big 12).
Tamin Lipsey had 20 points after going 11 of 14 at the free-throw line and added seven rebounds.
Gabe Madsen scored 20 points for Utah (8-6, 0-3).
NO. 4 DUKE 76, PITTSBURGH 47: Star freshman Cooper Flagg scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime to help the Blue Devils win at home over the Panthers.
Fellow rookie Kon Knueppel had 17 points and made four 3-pointers for Duke (13-2, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won a matchup of unbeaten league teams behind another strong defensive effort.
Pitt (12-3, 3-1, shot 31% and went the last eight minutes without a point.
GEORGIA 82, NO. 6 KENTUCKY 69: Freshman forward Asa Newell scored 12 of his 17 points after halftime and the host Bulldogs led the entire second half in beating the Wildcats for their first win over a top-10 team in five years.
Blue Cain added 15 points for Georgia (13-2, 1-1 SEC).
Lamont Butler led the Wildcats (12-3, 1-1) with 20.
NO. 7 MARQUETTE 74, GEORGETOWN 66: Chase Ross scored 27 points as the Eagles rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to beat the visiting Hoyas.
Stevie Mitchell added 13 points for Marquette (14-2, 5-0 Big East), which won its fifth straight game.
Malik Mack led Georgetown (12-3, 3-1) with 18 points.
The Hoyas’ five-game winning streak was snapped.
NO. 14 MISSISSIPPI ST. 76, VANDERBILT 64: RJ Melendez scored 19 points and the visiting Bulldogs beat the Commodores for their eighth straight victory.
Mississippi State (14-1, 2-0 SEC) came in with its highest ranking yet under coach Chris Jans.
Vanderbilt (13-2, 1-1) was trying to start 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2016-17, but the Bulldogs snapped the Commodores’ seven-game win streak under first-year coach Mark Byington.
ARIZONA 75, No. 21 WEST VIRGINIA 56: KJ Lewis scored 21 points and the Wildcats defeated the host Mountaineers for their fifth straight win.
Jaden Bradley added 15 points for Arizona (9-5, 3-0 Big 12).
Javon Small led West Virginia (11-3, 2-1) with 17 points.
The Mountaineers, who entered the AP Top 25 this week for the first time in two years, were held to their lowest point total of the season.
Arizona avenged an overtime loss to the Mountaineers on Nov. 29 in a nonconference game in the Bahamas.
WOMEN
UConn guard Paige Bueckers has a left knee sprain, avoiding a serious injury.
She will miss tonight’s game against Xavier.
Bueckers injured the knee in the third quarter of UConn’s win over Villanova on Sunday. Coach Geno Auriemma said she may miss a few games.
“It is just a sprain,” Auriemma said. “There is nothing torn, there is nothing crazy about it. Her knee got twisted a certain way, her ankle got twisted a certain way. It is just an awkward thing. We are hoping we have her back in a week.”
Bueckers left the Huskies’ 83-52 win over Villanova on Sunday after Villanova freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe landed on the left leg of the UConn All-American as she dove on the floor for a loose ball. Bueckers limped off the court with 1:17 left in the third quarter and did not return.
Bueckers leads No. 7 UConn (13-2, 4-0 Big East) with an average of 19.9 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 29 3-pointers.