Vanderbilt gives Florida Gators an early exit from the SEC Tournament

For the third time this season, and the fifth time in a row, the Vanderbilt Commodores handed the Florida Gators basketball team a loss. This time, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, a point Florida hasn’t been able to get past since winning the tournament in 2014.
Once again, Vanderbilt was several steps ahead throughout the game and Florida looked like the team playing its second game in 24 hours, despite having nearly a week off. With six days to prepare for the one team that swept them the entire season, the Gators still found no rhythm on offense and no answers on defense.
Florida held a tight lead most of the first half, but a four-minute span without a field goal opened the door for Vanderbilt to take its first lead with 5:56 remaining in the half. The Commodores took a 33-28 lead to the locker room.
The Gators tied the game back up at 42 early in the second half, but Vanderbilt quickly took back control and went up by as many as eight points with 3:27 left on the clock. That’s when Florida finally found some momentum.
Chris Chiozza made a layup to stifle some of Vanderbilt’s momentum and the Commodores turned it right back over to the Gators with an offensive foul. Devin Robinson brought Florida within three with a three after grabbing an offensive rebound and KeVaughn Allen tied it back up at 57 with a three of his own the following possession.
The Commodores gave the Gators every opportunity to win the game in the final minute, taking and missing a couple of quick three-point attempts and finally fouling Robinson, sending him to the line with 24 seconds to go. He made just one free-throw to put Florida up 58-57.
On the other end, Luke Kornet took another quick three attempt and missed, but Jeffery Roberson came down with the offensive rebound and Allen fouled him, giving him a chance to put the Commodores ahead and leave Florida 11 seconds to work with. Just like Robinson, he only made one and tied the game once again.
It was like déjà vu when the Gators put the ball in Kasey Hill’s hands once again to try to win the game in the final seconds and he drove to the basket and missed the layup without getting fouled, but this time it sent the game into overtime.
“Space the floor, put pressure on the rim,” Mike White said of his plan for the play. “You’ve got one of the fastest guys in college basketball getting downhill. They actually picked him up a little bit higher than I thought, which was good for us. We were actually hoping we could set a high ball screen in space and pull Kornet out as far away from the basket as possible. He still turned those hips and got those feet moving and still was able to contest it, if I’m not mistaken … And it was similar to a couple of looks we had last game, that he’s got an ability to alter, and we were hoping, obviously, that we could get to the rim, finish or get fouled with a couple shooters in the corners, and it just didn’t work out for us.”
Overtime wasn’t much to talk about, as Vanderbilt had its way with Florida. The Gators scored just four points in the five-minute period, all by Hill, but it was too little, too late. The Commodores took the game 72-62.
“It was a really hard fought game,” said White. “I thought both teams left it all out there on the floor. We had our opportunities that we just didn’t take advantage of, struggled, obviously, offensively against a good Vanderbilt team that’s really defending at a high level. I thought that we defended them at a pretty high level ourselves. I thought it was the best that we defended them this year, outside of a handful of mistakes. We’ve gotta find a way to be more disciplined, and that’s on me, but hats off to those guys. They were terrific. They stymied two or three of our runs with just some big, timely shots. They were the better team.”
It has been difficult to understand how a Vanderbilt team, now 19-14 overall, could be the better team over Florida, but three wins in one season is not a fluke. If the Commodores hadn’t already proved it, they proved to be the more prepared and better coached team Friday night.
After making just five three-pointers in the last matchup, Vanderbilt’s long-range game showed back up, as Riley LaChance and Matthew Fisher-Davis led the way for an 11-for-27 performance from beyond the arc.
LaChance was a nightmare for the Gators in the second half. He finished with 18, going 6-for-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from three. Roberson had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Kornet had 12 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. The Commodores shot 43 percent overall and 41 percent from three.
As for the Gators, Allen (16), Hill (16) and Robinson (11) all finished with double figures and combined for all six of Florida’s threes on the night. Allen led the way with four three-pointers. Robinson led the Gators with 10 boards.
Behind that trio, there was very little production to speak of. Most notably, Canyon Barry finished without a single point in 16 minutes on the floor. The off night did not come with good timing, as Florida desperately needed his spark off the bench.
Following the game, Allen and Hill both said they did not believe the team has lost its momentum after losing three of the last four, but White completely disagreed. While Vanderbilt is seemingly gaining momentum, Florida is headed in the opposite direction.
“I think we’ve been in that place at times this year,” White said. “We’re not in that place right now. I disagree with my guys. We obviously have lost momentum.”
To go along with the lost momentum, the Gators have lost predicted seeding in the NCAA Tournament. A chance to play in Orlando, Fla., in front of Florida fans for the first games is a longshot now and the Gators will likely have an even more difficult road to face.
Whatever that road may be, Florida will need to find a way to refocus before that time comes or its time in the NCAA Tournament could be just as short as its time in the SEC Tourament.

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.