Tennessee basketball had aced nearly every test of in its 14-0 start to the season before Florida obliterated the Vols’ 73-43 in Gainesville on Tuesday night.
The Vols started the game missing their first nine shots from the field and missed their first 14 three-pointers. Tennessee had issues bigger then its shooting woes against Florida but the offensive issues were by far the most jarring.
Let’s take a look at some of the most jarring stats from the 30-point loss.
More From RTI: Everything Florida HC Todd Golden Said Following Lopsided Win Over Tennessee
Some Barnes’ Era Worsts
The Vols first defeat of the season was Tennessee’s worst offensive performance in Rick Barnes’ 10 seasons as head coach.
Tennessee’s 43 points was a Barnes era low, surpassing its 46 points in a home win over Auburn during the 2022-23 season. The Vols’ 21% shooting from the field was also the worst shooting performance of Barnes’ tenure, trumping a 25% shooting performance in a loss against Memphis during the 2019-20 season.
The 30-point loss was the most lopsided defeat of Barnes’ tenure. There’s a tie for the previous most one-sided loss with Tennessee losing by 28 points at Kentucky during the 2021-22 season and by 28 points at Alabama during the 2017-18 season.
Tennessee’s last 30-plus point loss was against Michigan in the 2011 NCAA Tournament— Bruce Pearl’s final game as the Vols’ head coach.
Worst College Basketball Shooting Performance This Century
Tennessee’s shooting performance wasn’t just the worst of Barnes’ tenure but it was the worst overall shooting performance in Division I basketball during the 21st century.
The Vols shot 29% from two-point range, 14% from three-point range and 60% from the free throw line. According to OptaSTATS, Tennessee was the first Division I team to shoot less than 30% from inside the arch, 15% beyond the arc and 60% or worse at the foul line.
Through the first 38 minutes of the game only three Tennessee players made shots from the field.
Most One-Sided Loss For a No. 1 Team in 57 Years
No. 1 Tennessee basketball’s loss at Florida was the third most lopsided loss for the top-ranked team in the history of the AP Poll.
The last time the No. 1 team lost by 30-plus points was in 1968 when No. 2 UCLA dominated No. 1 Houston, 101-69. The most lopsided loss ever for the top-ranked team came in 1951 when No. 2 Kentucky blitzed No. 1 St. John’s 81-40 in Lexington.
While those losses were over 50 years ago in No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups there was a very similar outcome last season. No. 7 Iowa State knocked off No. 1 Houston, 69-41, in the Big 12 Tournament.
