The regular season for the 2016-17 Florida Gators basketball team has nearly reached its end. With just one more game left, Florida looks to go out on a high note and build some momentum leading up to the SEC Tournament.
The Gators are searching for redemption, traveling to Vanderbilt for a rematch with one of just six teams to hand them a loss this season. Florida was at its lowest point in the season when it lost to the Commodores 68-66 at home before setting out on a nine-game winning streak.
“Yeah, I kind of feel like we owe them one,” said guard Canyon Barry. “Obviously, at that point in the season, we won a couple games, I think we were kind of lax in our mentality and they took it to us at home, which definitely hurt us down the road with SEC standings and potentially winning a SEC championship. I think we learned from it, adapted, came together as a team and kind of kick started our energy, our defense, again. Hopefully, we can go down there and kind of pay them back.”
To be able to pay back the favor, the Gators will need to have an excellent defensive mentality. Vanderbilt brings in the SEC’s top three-point percentage and most three-point field goals made this season.
The Commodores have seven different players who can shoot the three efficiently and the Gators learned firsthand from three of those guys last game that it is nearly impossible to defend. Riley LaChance, Matthew Fisher-Davis, and Luke Cornet each drained three from beyond the arc to combine for nine of Vanderbilt’s 10 three-pointers in the game.
“These guys, Vandy they require such mental focus and discipline to guard them,” said Mike White. “So that’s factor, or key, number one. It will be disappointing if, with one game left, we don’t give it our all in that regard, because it’s the only way to give yourself a chance to guard an intricate system and a system that is unique to the rest of the league with five guys with their ability to stretch the floor, five guys who can shoot it, make decisions, pass it. So our focus and our mental toughness and discipline have to be terrific. That’s what I’d like to see.”
While Florida’s last outing against Vanderbilt wasn’t great, the game plan will still remain the same. The Gators will just need to execute it better, both offensively and defensively.
Barry talked about the improvements the team needs to make for Saturday. “Just communicate,’ he said. “We didn’t guard their actions well, didn’t talk on defense, gave up open threes to some of the best shooters in the conference. Going into this game, the game plan’s pretty much the same, just gotta be better on defense, talk a lot more and just communicate.”
To be fair, Florida is in a much better mental state, even after the loss to Kentucky, than it was back in January when it last faced Vanderbilt. The Gators took accountability for the loss to the Commodores and made a complete turnaround.
During the Vanderbilt game, White said there was a lot of finger-pointing and selfishness amongst the team and that degree of immaturity has not shown up again since.
As for the Commodores, they have also gotten stronger in recent weeks, winning four of their last five games. To add onto the already high degree of difficulty this game will bring for the Gators, Vanderbilt has been tough at home this season, with a 10-5 record, compared to their overall 16-14 record. Florida has struggled at Vanderbilt in years past, with a 14-76 road record in this series.
“To me, it’s a different game,” White said, comparing Saturday’s game to the previous matchup. “They’re a different team. We’re a different team. I think the stage is just so different now. It’s our last game. It’s our last tune-up … You have an opportunity to potentially get to 25 [wins] in the regular season, which would be really special for this group, and an opportunity to win at Vanderbilt, which is always very difficult.”