After playing six of their last nine games on the road, Florida returned home to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in their 12th conference game of the season.
The Gators dropped to 13-12 (6-6 SEC) after falling 88-80 inside the Stephen O’Connell Center, ending Florida’s nine-game winning streak over the Commodores.
Vanderbilt threw the first punch, sinking their first six shots of the game and climbing out to an early 14-8 lead, the first of 15 total lead changes.
Kowacie Reeves’ seven first-half bench points allowed Florida to cut the Commadores lead to just one at halftime. The Gators trailed 42-41 after 20 minutes of play.
Florida shot 52.8% from the field in the first half, which was a breath of fresh air for Gators fans. However, Florida connected on just 1-10 attempts from three-point range. This trend continued for the rest of the game as Florida finished just 2-20 from three with both makes coming from Kowacie Reeves.
Vanderbilt shot 51.6% from the field in the first half, connecting on half of their three-point attempts (7-14).
Todd Golden’s squad was doing a better job limiting three pointers early on in the second half, but once Vandy got going, there was no stopping them. The Commodores finished the game making 12-23 (52.2%) shots from beyond the arc. Three-point shooting ended up being the difference in the game.
Florida entered the contest as the 3rd best free throw shooting team in the SEC and the 79th amongst 352 division one basketball teams.
It wasn’t the Gators’ night from the charity stripe, connecting on 60.9% (14-23) of attempts, including missing a pair of free throws that would have extended Florida’s 2nd half lead to six.
The storyline of today’s game was the matchup between Colin Castleton and Vanderbilt’s Liam Robbins.
Castleton scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting, which marks the fourth straight game the Gators’ 6-11 forward has scored 20+ points. He added 11 rebounds and two blocks to the stat sheet.
Liam Robbins was just as good if not better, scoring 32 points on 10-18 shooting, adding 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The difference between the two was their work outside the paint. Robbins drilled 3-4 three-point attempts and made 9-11 from the free throw line. Castleton missed his lone three-point attempt and connected on 5-9 from the charity stripe.
Freshman guard Riley Kugel set a career high with 18 points on 8-14 from the field. The Orlando native continues to improve in a Gators’ uniform.
Entering today’s game, Florida ranked 11th in defensive efficiency and ninth in two-point field goal percentage defense nationally (KenPom). The Gators have held SEC opponents to .385 from the field and .282 from 3-point range.
Todd Golden’s squad hasn’t been nearly as effective in either category over the last two games. Florida will look to get back to dominating the defensive side of the ball in their next matchup against Ole Miss on Wednesday night.
Many labeled this game a “must win” for the Gators’ chances at the NCAA Tournament, and I can’t say I disagree. While it’s still not impossible, things don’t look so bright for Florida’s chances on making the field of 68.