Florida Gators basketball working to look ahead to Vanderbilt

Coming off of their worst offensive performance of the season at South Carolina on Wednesday, the Florida Gators basketball team is still hurting. Florida had to work for everything it got, which wasn’t very much, in the 57-53 defeat.

The Gators played outstanding defense against a below average South Carolina offense, but 19-for-54 from the field and 0-for-17 from beyond the arc wouldn’t amount to enough points for very many teams to come away with a win in any game. Besides the Gamecocks’ defense being one of the best in the country, Florida was just in a funk.

“It was real frustrating,” said junior forward Devin Robinson. “We know we can knock down shots. That didn’t rile any of our confidence. We’re going to keep shooting our shots, but nothing was falling the other night.”

Mike White wasn’t pleased with his team’s offensive showing either, but he doesn’t think it was necessarily Florida’s offense being exposed, just more of a fluke game. “I’m hoping it’s just a one time, that’s what we’re hoping for, of course,” said White. “My goodness, we just couldn’t buy a basket. I know, I don’t want to take anything away from South Carolina, because they had a lot to do with that, but if you get a handful open you’ve got to make a couple of them. So the challenge to our guys is to continue shooting with confidence, continue taking the right ones, we all got to get in the gym a little bit more, as we did yesterday after practice, but I just think we’re a pretty good shooting team. I didn’t anticipate that happening, and I certainly don’t anticipate that happening again.”

As hard as it is to get over a loss of that nature and set sights on the next game, that is what the Gators have worked to do in this short turnaround of only three days between games. Vanderbilt comes in having lost its last four games, but it could steal a sneaky victory if Florida doesn’t come in with a fresh mindset.

After all, the Commodores did sweep the Gators in two games last season. Florida lost to Vanderbilt in Gainesville last season coming off of a tough loss at South Carolina. Saturday’s game will be a true test of how far Florida’s maturity has come since a year ago.

“If you put a lot of focus on South Carolina right now, Vandy will come in here and score 90 on you,” White said. “So you’ve got to move on pretty quickly, as quickly as you can … Again, what I talk about, what we talked to the team about, I’m being dead honest. We’ve had a couple wins where guys were very subpar. We did not play well. That is not who we are trying to become. After the South Carolina game, that wasn’t it. That wasn’t the message, because we battled. We played really, really hard, had a lot of adversity, had foul trouble, just couldn’t make a shot. Unfortunately, you’ve got to put it in the hole to win a basketball game.”

Vanderbilt brings the complete opposite of what South Carolina brought to the table. This game will be all about defending at a high level, with an emphasis on defending the three. The Commodores lead the SEC in both three-point percentage and three-point field goals made this season. If the Gators bring in the same defensive mentality they had at South Carolina, it should be a completely different game.

“We know that if we take away the three, it’s gonna be hard for them to score,” said Robinson. “That’s what we try to hang our hats on in practice, working on closing out the three-point line, making the right rotations and switching. And if we control the three-point line, then I feel like we have a good chance of having a good game.”

While Florida is feeling confident on defense, points still have to be scored to win basketball games, as White said. For the Gators to get back on track offensively, sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen might be the key. Florida is just better all-around when Allen is in his zone.

Lately, he has not been able to find that zone, for whatever reason. He has been defended well, but at the same time Florida’s offensive calls just haven’t given him enough opportunities. Maybe he has just lost some confidence in the last several games, but Saturday is the perfect opportunity to gain that confidence back in front of the home crowd.

“I would like to see him be our most aggressive player, and I think that we lose a little bit of confidence as a team when he’s not quite as aggressive,” said White. “I hate to put that on him. I think the people that are closest to him also put that on him and his teammates put that on him … He’s got to get back to being that confident guy, the guy everyone looks to for confidence as well. He’s got to understand how good he is.”

Allen getting back to being his usual self is exactly what this Florida offense needs right now, but there are a lot of guys who could step up on Saturday. The Gators have a huge advantage with the amount of parity that is on the roster. If it is not Allen who steps up, then Canyon Barry, Keith Stone, Devin Robinson or someone else will likely be there to do it instead, but with no consistent shooter on a game-by-game basis, the Gators can’t afford a night where everyone plays an average game.

Bailiegh Carlton
A lifelong sports fan, Bailiegh Carlton knew from a young age that she wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Before transferring to the University of Florida to study journalism, she played softball at Gulf Coast State College. She then interned for Gator Country for three years as she worked toward her degree. After graduation, Bailiegh decided to explore other opportunities in the world of sports, but all roads led her right back here. In her time away, she and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. When she isn't working, she can almost always be found snuggled up with sweet baby Ridley, Cody and her four fur babies.