No. 1 Tennessee seeks program record in clash vs. No. 6 Florida

Top-ranked Tennessee has its sights set on securing the best start in program history when it visits No. 6 Florida on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play at Gainesville, Fla.The Volunteers (14-0, 1-0) have matched the top start that was put together by the 1922-23 squad. It certainly will be a big accomplishment if they surpass the mark against the Gators.Florida (13-1, 0-1) had been chasing its own best start mark but fell four games short of matching the 2005-06 Gators, who started 17-0 on the way to winning the national title. The season-opening run came crashing down Saturday when Florida lost 106-100 at Kentucky.The Gators’ second-best start isn’t bad, of course, but allowing 106 points erased any chance of feeling good about the accomplishment.”It’s tough when you put up a hundred and allow the other team to put up a hundred-and-whatever,” Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. said. “When you do that, you’re doing something wrong defensively. The coaches gave us a game plan, and we didn’t execute it as players.”Clayton made six 3-pointers and matched his career best of 33 points against the Wildcats. He is averaging a team-best 18.3 points per game and also has a team-leading 43 3-pointers.Tennessee had no issues in remaining unbeaten as it routed visiting Arkansas 76-52 on Saturday.The Volunteers received a season-high 29 points from Chaz Lanier and a huge outing from Igor Milicic Jr., who had 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.Both players are transfers. Lanier played four seasons at North Florida before transferring to Tennessee, and he leads the squad in scoring (20.3 points per game) and 3-pointers (56). Milicic, averaging 10.9 points and a team-leading 8.9 rebounds, played one season at Virginia and two seasons at Charlotte.”We have such a high expectation for both of those guys because they’re older, they’ve been around, and they’re really, really, really terrific basketball players,” Volunteers coach Rick Barnes said. “But you’re always pushing to get more and more. And what I’m thankful for is they’re able to take that. They’re able to take it.”Lanier has been electric with three straight 20-point outings, including seven for the season.

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