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No. 1 Florida can set school record for wins to open SEC play

Feb 3, 2007 - 4:32 PM Tennessee (15-7) at No. 1 Florida (20-2) 3:00 pm EST

GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Now that Florida has its ninth consecutive 20-win season, it now has a chance to do something unprecedented in school history.

The top-rated Gators can open their Southeastern Conference schedule with eight victories for the first time and win their 14th straight game overall in Saturday's meeting with Tennessee.

Florida has a two-game edge over Kentucky in the SEC East Division after winning its 15th consecutive home game with Wednesday's 74-64 triumph over Vanderbilt. The victory gave the Gators their 20th win before February for the first time.

Joakim Noah scored 19 points, Lee Humphrey added 15 and Taurean Green 13 for Florida, which opened the second half with a 13-0 run to overcome a 41-30 deficit.

The defending national champions are among the nation's leaders in field-goal percentage (54.0), three-point percentage (43.6) and can match the third-longest winning streak in school history.

The Volunteers have dropped five of their last seven games and are 3-4 in the SEC East. They have played their last three games without leading-scorer Chris Lofton (21.5), who has an ankle injury.

Despite Lofton's absence, Tennessee snapped a two-game skid with Wednesday's 82-71 victory over Georgia. JaJaun Smith scored 22 points and Ramar Smith added 21 for the Volunteers, who shot 65 percent (15-of-23) in the second half.

Tennessee has won four of the last five encounters against Florida, including a two-game sweep last season.