With the Florida Gators (12-5, 3-1 SEC) riding high on a three-game winning streak, they’ll now have a few days to prepare for what could be the toughest game on their SEC schedule–a road bout with 16-0 Vanderbilt.
The Commodores will have a game against Texas between the publishing of this article and their bout with the Gators.
If you haven’t been following college basketball closely this year it might come as a surprise that the Vanderbilt Commodores have been one of the best teams in basketball who is now being discussed as a National Championship contender and by extension a favorite to win the SEC. Picked all the way back at 11th in the SEC preseason poll there weren’t many people to expect the surge, though some media names like Kevin Sweeney, Will Warren, Blake Lovell, and Neil Blackmon predicted the stellar year for the Commodores.
It’s year two of the Mark Byington era in Nashville, and after making the NCAA Tournament in year one things can’t be going much better. Vanderbilt was able to hold on to some rotation pieces from the year prior but they weren’t seen as a projected force–as seen by the 11th ranking in the preseason SEC poll. Their non-conference schedule wasn’t incredibly challenging, but they made it through without taking a loss and getting wins over UCF, VCU, SMU, Saint Mary’s, Memphis, and Wake Forest. Their SEC season has started with wins over South Carolina, Alabama, and LSU. Alabama, sitting at 16th in KenPom, has been the best team that the Commodores have beaten–and Gators sitting at 11th will be their toughest test so far.
Driving the success for Vanderbilt has been an offense that is efficient, quick, and aesthetically pleasing. Currently 5th in adjusted offensive efficiency, Vanderbilt has been scoring the ball at will and they do it in a variety of ways. Playing two ball handling guards (more on them later) there are multiple guys who can get the Commodores into offense, and both are threats to attack a moving defense. The wings are filled with confident shooters, and the frontcourt are versatile face up players who can operate from different places around the court. Florida’s defense has been rock solid in recent weeks but Vanderbilt will be the biggest challenge yet, particularly with the complexity of the actions they like to run.
Leading the way for Vanderbilt is a point guard who is one of the biggest breakouts and best stories of the season so far–Tyler Tanner. Tanner, a slight guard at just 6’0” tall, does not look the part college basketball dominator–but he has been just that. Averaging 17.3 points and 5.4 assists, Tanner is an effortless scorer and playmaker who often looks like he’s gliding across the floor rather than running around it, and every time Vanderbilt gives him a ball screen it looks like things are going in slow motion for him as he diagnoses the defense’s every move and makes the appropriate response. Given his small stature you might think he’s purely a jump shooter, and while he is lethal from deep–he plays much bigger than his frame when it comes to the painted area and he excels at finishing through contact and has even put up a highlight reel of powerful dunks over defenders. Averaging 2.6 steals, he has even had a huge impact on the defensive end, an element of his game that is often overlooked given how much focus is on his strong offensive game.
In recent games the Gators, particularly due to the excellent work of Boogie Fland, have been clamping down on star guards such as Georgia’s Jeremiah Wilkinson, Tennessee’s Ja’Kobie Gillespie, and Oklahoma’s Nijel Pack, and this will be their biggest test yet. Tanner is going to be an All-American candidate and will be at the top of Florida’s scouting report.
Just behind Tanner in production is Duke Miles, a transfer from Oklahoma. Miles got his chance to come to the SEC last year and while he was a capable starter he seems about as average, and maybe even as forgettable, as a starting high-major guard could get, and when he entered the transfer portal there weren’t many sniffs from bigger high-major programs. Byington, who coached against Miles when Miles was at Troy and he was at James Madison, has been able to completely unlock his game. Miles is now averaging 17.2 points and 4.4 assists, a perfect complementary piece to Tanner. Between Tanner and Miles the Commodores have two elite ball handlers who can either operate with the ball or work off of it, and it has made for a lethal attack.
What has made the Vanderbilt story so interesting while they have been running through college basketball is the fact that they are extremely undersized, and we’re not just talking about 6’0” Tyler Tanner and 6’2” Duke Miles being the backcourt. Most of the Vanderbilt forwards are small, and 6’7”, 230 pound Devin McGlockton and 6’7”, 244 pound Ak Okereke play most of the minutes at center. 6’10” Jalen Washington is a taller piece that comes off the bench, but for most of the game and especially in crunch time the 16-0 Commodores will roll with 6’7” at the center position which has made for interesting film. The small lineups are extremely quick, and with strong positional understanding the Commodores will keep opponents from getting into the lane which is their form of rim protection. Vanderbilt has been excellent on the defensive end, scrambling around and using their foot speed to make up for the lack of size.
Of course, Florida will be their biggest challenge yet–both literally and figuratively.
So far the Commodores haven’t been hurt by their lack of size, and they are actually 26th in the country in defensive rebounding rate–but the Gators will be a challenge unlike anything they have seen. Throughout non-conference play and even the matchups they started with in SEC play have not featured many monsters in the frontcourt, and just how they will respond will be fascinating to watch. Not only will Florida and Vanderbilt fans be watching, but all eyes of the college basketball world will be viewing this game wondering if the Commodores can be competitive on the inside against a massive frontcourt or if their tremendous offensive work can overcome it.
This game is huge for the Gators as they try to establish themselves as a team that can win the SEC, with Vanderbilt currently sitting at the top of the table. With the Gators being given an easy SEC slate, this game against Vanderbilt on the road is likely going to be their most difficult of the regular season. Additionally, with both teams expected now to finish at the top of the league there could be potential tie-break implications here, so this will be a marquee matchup for a number of reasons.
Florida and Vanderbilt will tip off Saturday, January 17th at 2 PM ET and it will be televised on ESPN.