Playing once again without star center the Florida Gators were no match for the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday night, losing 88-72. Much of the game belonged to Vanderbilt who led for nearly 38 minutes of play, largely dictating the terms of engagement with an offense that was lethal. This is Vanderbilt’s second win over the Gators this season, completely a sweep that likely wouldn’t have been predicted entering the season. With the loss Florida dropped to 10th in the SEC standings at 7-9, while Vanderbilt improved to 9-7 moving to 7th in league standings
Defensive Issues
When Florida was winning games this season it was largely their work on the defensive end that led the way and that has eroded in recent games, even before the Colin Castleton injury. Vanderbilt ended up scoring 1.38 points per possession in this game, making it arguably the worst defensive performance of Florida’s season. While some of that was certainly on the center rotation of Jason Jitoboh and Aleks Szymczyk who have had to play increased roles, it was the wings that struggled considerably to guard the complex actions drawn up by Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse. Liam Robbins, who cooked the Gators in the first meeting of the two teams, was once again dominant finishing with 18 points leading the way for the Commodores.
Rebounding Woes
Defensive rebounding has been an issue for the Gators all season long and without Colin Castleton the issue has only gotten worse. Vanderbilt finished Saturday’s game with 13 offensive rebounds giving them second and third opportunities and considering how efficient their offense was already, these extra opportunities completely sunk any chance the Gators had at staying in the game. Jason Jitoboh only had 1 defensive rebound in 19 minutes, an example of the rebounding issues he unfortunately has shown throughout his career. Aleks Szymczyk, undersized when out there against Liam Robbins but not small at 6’10”, 240, had 1 defensive rebound in 17 minutes. Really the only player showing fight on the glass was wing Will Richard who had 6 defensive rebounds which easily led the way for the Gators. The Gators need every possession they can get and can’t afford to give away any extra shots to opponents so they’ll need to find a way to protect their own rebounds.
Bright Spot
Freshman Riley Kugel has been playing incredible basketball in recent weeks despite things going pretty poorly for the team around him and he once again had a stellar game finishing with 20 points which easily led the Gators. With Casleton out it seems like Kugel is just about the only threat on the floor that defenses are really concerned about and he’s still creating offense at a high level using his blend of creativity and athleticism to pressure the rim and score. NBA scouts are starting to take notice of Kugel’s size, athleticism, and skill, and it looks like keeping him around is going to be the most important aspect of Florida’s offseason.
Final Thoughts
Sadly it was another frustrating game for the Gators who have now lost 6 of their last 7 games with many of them not even being all that competitive. The defense that at one point gave them a chance to stay in most games is now completely lost and their inability to score, an issue that has been there all season, is only exaggerated when the defense doesn’t perform. The Gators will now prepare for a game against Georgia which by definition is winnable, though could be a big challenge.