Knoxville, TN (Sports Network) - Chris Lofton scored 26 points as seventh- ranked Tennessee overcame a shaky start to down Florida, 104-82, in SEC action at the Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tyler Smith added 23 points and six assists for the Volunteers (20-2, 7-1 SEC), who won their fourth straight game and are a perfect 12-0 at home this season. JaJuan Smith also chipped in with 23 points, while J.P. Prince netted 10.

"What a great game," Vols coach Bruce Pearl said. "Anybody who talks about the SEC being down this year just needs to look at this game. I appreciate the style. Many conferences slug it out, but both Florida and Tennessee were committed to up-tempo basketball at its best."

Marreese Speights had 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting for the Gators (18-5, 5-3), who dropped their second straight contest. Dan Werner donated 18 points and freshman Nick Calathes finished with 15 points and eight assists.

"Tonight was a great lesson for us," Gators coach Billy Donovan said. "We shot the ball well, ran offense pretty well; I thought we executed pretty well, shot a pretty high percentage from the field, and we still lost by 20. I do not know that it is a lack of ability, youthfulness, strength, quickness, but we have not bought in to defending like we need to defend."

Tennessee entered the second half trailing by four points but quickly started to take control. The Vols took their first lead of the final frame with 16:02 left when Lofton connected on a three to make it a 53-52 game.

Moments later Tyler Smith buried a jumper and JuJuan Smith followed with a three to give the Volunteers a 58-52 advantage.

After, a pair of Calathes free throws made it 71-68, Tennessee put things away with a 13-4 run. Ramar Smith sparked the burst with a dunk and Lofton finished it with a three to make it a 84-72 game with just 5:49 left.

The Vols coasted from there. Consecutive slams on the break by Tyler Smith ignited the crowd and gave Tennessee an insurmountable 97-79 edge with 2:32 on the clock.

Florida stormed out of the gates with a 16-3 run to start the game. Speights finished the flurry with a layup less than four minutes into the game.

The Volunteers recovered from there and slowly chipped away. Prince buried a jumper to draw Tennessee to within five, 21-16, with 12:21 remaining until intermission.

Wayne Chism's three then deadlocked things at 30 with 10:12 remaining. Chism struck again, this time with a layup with just over five minutes left in the half, that gave the Volunteers their first lead of the game, 36-35.

The Gators recovered a bit from there and took a 48-44 advantage into the locker room.