UF Hoops: The Gators have to cut the head off the UT snake

Rueben Chinyelu will need a strong game for UF to beat No. 1 Tennessee (Photo by Chris Spears)

The late, great Al McGuire’s defensive philosophy started with this: Cut the head off the snake. Al believed that winning defensive basketball begins with making the other team’s best player irrelevant. In the case of the No. 1 Tennessee Vols (14-0, 1-0 SEC), the head of the snake is point guard Zakai Ziegler, who is already making a serious statement for both national and Southeastern Conference player of the year honors.

How do you neutralize Ziegler, a 5-9 waterbug who averages 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and an SEC-leading 8.0 assists per game? Ziegler excels at getting into the lane, drawing defenders and then getting the basketball to a wide open shooter. Despite his size, he gets to the rim and finishes. Defensively, he’s able to double down when the ball goes inside and quick enough to get back to his own man. A year ago, Ziegler was the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Finding a way to take Ziegler out of the game has to be the top priority for No. 8 Florida (13-1, 0-1 SEC) tonight at the O-Dome (7 p.m., ESPN2). If Ziegler is cooking, the Gators are going to have a very difficult time upsetting the high-flying Vols, who are 14-0 for just the second time in school history. Tennessee’s last 14-0 start was 1923.

Of course, Ziegler is just one problem the Vols pose. The Vols limit opponents to just 55.9 points per game, best in the SEC and second nationally. Tennessee forces opponents into bad shooting nights, lots of them. Opponents are hitting only 34.9 percent of their shots overall, a dismal 24.3 percent from the 3-point line. The Vols are very good at forcing teams deep into the shot clock at which time they take a panic or hurried shot that clangs off the rim.

In their SEC opener against Arkansas, the Vols held the Razorbacks to 52 points on 20-53 shooting overall, 6-29 (20.7 percent) from the 3-point line. That was a typical Tennessee defensive effort. Syracuse scored 70 on the Vols, the most any team has this season.

Can Florida make Ziegler irrelevant while finding a way to get good shots and score against Tennessee’s defense? Against Kentucky, which is a very good defensive team, the Gators scored 100 with 68 coming from the perimeter trio of Walter Clayton Jr. (33), Alijah Martin (26) and Will Richard (9).

It will be imperative for the Gators to dominate the Vols on the backboards. Florida is second nationally in rebounding (45.14 per game) and fifth in offensive rebounds (15.29 per game). This has to be a game in which Alex Condon (10.9 points, 7.7 rebounds), Rueben Chinyelu (5.6 points, 6.8 rebounds), Thomas Haugh (7.9 points, 5.8 rebounds) and Sam Alexis (6.2 points, 4.8 rebounds) assert themselves, both offensively and limiting the Vols to a single shot.

Keys to a Florida victory: This is a winnable game for the Gators, who last beat the nation’s top-ranked team in 2007 when they beat Ohio State in the NCAA Championship game in Atlanta. To beat the Vols, the Gators can’t be trigger happy from the 3-point line. It will be important for the Gators to go inside-out against Tennessee, starting the offense on the inside with the ball going out to the perimeter when the defense collapses to help.

Defensively, the Gators have to revert back to the form they showed in the first 13 games of the season when only three opponents scored 70 or more points. Against Kentucky, Florida had its worst defensive effort of the season, allowing the Wildcats to score 106. Florida’s poor 3-point defense was alarming as Kentucky lit the Gators up for 14-29 shooting behind the arc, with Koby Brea knocking down 7-9. Tennessee’s sharpshooter is North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier, the SEC’s leading scorer at 20.3 per game. The Gators can’t allow Lanier to heat up and take over the game.

Expect an old-fashioned rock fight at the O-Dome. This shapes up as Florida’s irresistible force (88.3 points per game) against Tennessee’s immovable object (allows 55.9 points per game).

Anticipated starting lineups

No. 8 FLORIDA (13-1, 0-1 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)

No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC): Igor Milicic (6-10, 225, SR); Felix Okpara (6-11, 235, JR); Chaz Lanier (6-5, 207, SR); Jahmai Mashack (6-4, 202, SR); Zakai  Ziegler (5-9, 172, SR)

Coaches top 25:1. Tennessee 14-0; 2. Auburn 13-1; 3. Iowa State 12-1; 4. Duke 12-2; 5. Alabama 12-2; 6. Marquette 13-2; 7. Kentucky 12-2; 8.  FLORIDA 13-1; 9. Texas A&M 12-2; 10. UConn 12-3; 11. Houston 10-3; 12. Kansas 10-3; 13. Mississippi State 13-1; 14. Michigan State 12-2; 15. Illinois 11-3; 16. Oklahoma 13-1; 17. Oregon 13-2; 18. Gonzaga 12-4; 19. Purdue 11-4; 20. Memphis 12-3; 21. UCLA 11-3; 22. Ole Miss 12-2; 23. West Virgina 11-2; 24. Michigan 11-3; 25. Utah State 14-1

Associated Press top 25: 1. Tennessee 14-0; 2. Auburn 13-1; 3. Iowa State 12-2; 4. Duke 12-2; 5. Alabama 12-2; 6. Kentucky 12-2; 7. Marquette 13-2; 8. FLORIDA 13-1; 9. UConn 12-3; 10. Texas A&M 12-2; 11. Kansas 10-3; 12. Houston 10-3; 13. Illinois 11-3; 14. Mississippi State 13-1; 15. Oregon 13-2; 16. Michigan State 12-2; 17. Oklahoma 13-1; 18. GonzaGA 12-4; 19. Memphis 12-3; 20. Purdue 11-4; 21. West Virginia 11-2; 22. UCLA 11-3; 23. Ole Miss 12-2; 24. Michigan 11-3; 25. Utah State 14-1

SEC BASKETBALL

Today’s games

No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC) at No. 6 FLORIDA (13-1, 0-1 SEC)

No. 2 Auburn (13-1, 1-0 SEC) at Texas (11-3, 0-1 SEC)

No. 10 Kentucky (12-2, 1-0 SEC) at Georgia (12-2, 0-1 SEC)

No. 17 Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0 SEC) at Vanderbilt (13-1, 1-0 SEC)

LSU (11-3, 0-1 SEC) at Missouri (11-3, 0-1 SEC)

Wednesday’s games

No. 5 Alabama (12-1, 1-0 SEC) at South Carolina (10-4, 0-1 SEC)

No. 13 Texas A&M (12-2, 1-0 SEC) at No. 12 Oklahoma (13-1, 0-1 SEC)

No. 24 Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0 SEC) at No. 23 Arkansas (11-3, 0-1 SEC)