As if the game itself wasn't entertaining enough, there were some fireworks following Wednesday's game between Florida and No. 18 Tennessee. The two teams got into a slight skirmish in the handshake line following Tennessee's 78-71 win.
According to Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes, he believes the scuffle ensued as a result of a Florida player joking about Tennessee player Zakai Zeigler's height.
Things got quite heated in the postgame handshake line between Tennessee and Florida. pic.twitter.com/eoHPaEGGQ9
— Karthik Venkataraman (@KarthikV_) January 27, 2022
"There is a lot of chirping that goes on and a lot of things can happen going through the game," Barnes said on "The Rick Barnes Show" after the game. "I think someone made a comment about Zakai being too small. It can be a lot of different things."
Volunteers forward Uros Plavsic was seen yelling at Florida's players on the court following the game. Assistant coach Rod Clark then ended up pulling Zeigler away from any type of altercation. In addition, Florida guard Tyree Appleby made a beeline for the Tennessee bench, but walk-on Alex Klatsky was able to hold him back.
Tennessee ended up erasing a 13-point deficit as they defeated Florida. Zeigler, who is 5'9, scored 11 points while also securing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Florida forward Anthony Duruji -- who is 6'7 -- was the only other player that had six rebounds.
During the game itself, Tennessee was assessed two technical fouls. Santiago Vescovi was given one for a loose-ball scrum and Appleby was also given one on the same play. Plavsic also drew a technical foul for pushing Florida's Jason Jitoboh during a rebound attempt.
