The Florida Gators were defeated for a third time this season by the Vanderbilt Commodores 72-62. The Gators finish SEC play at 14-5.
It was a hot start in the first half for Kasey Hill, hitting his signature mid range jumper and accounting for four of the first six Gator points. But Hill and the Gators went cold after a quick start. The Gators went a mere 1-9 from three and 11-33 from the field. Vanderbilt continued its hot play against the Gators shooting 50 percent from three.
Hill lead the gators in scoring with six points accompanied by Keith Stone who had an impressive performance off the bench to start the game. Vanderbilt took a 33-28 lead into the half as the Gators searched for answers on offensive going into the locker room.
The second half started the way it finished for Florida, sluggish and struggling to find an offensive rhythm. It wasn’t until a steal and a KeVaughn Allen three did the Gators start to show some positive energy. The Gators then dug in on defense and cut the Vandy lead to two points and forced the Commodores to take a timeout. After going almost three minutes without scoring, the Gators gained the momentum.
After seemingly finding an offensive scheme, Florida went cold again. The Commodores took a comfortable lead that hovered between six and eight. With under three minutes left, Florida found itself down six with a third loss to Vanderbilt on the season. After the timeout Kevaughn Allen and Devin Robinson both sunk huge three pointers to tie the game at 57. After Devin Robinson made one of two from the free throw line, Vandy answered with a free throw of its own. The Gators had possession and the last shot with 9.7 seconds left in the game. Kasey Hill took the ball all the way to the rack but came up empty and the game goes to overtime.
In overtime Vanderbilt jumped out to a five-point lead as the Gators fell into yet another offensive snooze. The five-point lead eventually grew to nine and the Gators were out of gas. While this is not the tournament appearance that Mike White hoped for, he will look to gather all positive energy and get ready for selection Sunday.