Survive and advance.
It was looking rocky there for a moment as Vanderbilt was able to fight back and take a second half lead but in the end the Gators, led by Tre Mann, were able to get key buckets and stops and come away with a 69-63 win. Scotty Pippen Jr., the star guard for the Commodores, was phenomenal putting his team on his back but his 23 points and 4 assists weren’t enough to drag Vanderbilt to victory. Florida held a comfortable 34-22 lead at half, only to let Vanderbilt back into the game when they went on a furious 10-0 run to take the lead. Tre Mann was able to hit the go ahead bucket after that, and it was simply up to the Gators to hit free throws to seal it. This game was too close for comfort, but Florida was able to come away with a win.
Fresh Starting Lineup
After showing up late to the team meeting, Tyree Appleby and Scottie Lewis were barred from starting the game. This change allowed for Samson Ruzhentsev and Niels Lane to get some first half minutes which went well for both of them. Ruzhentsev missed some open shots he would love to have back but was excellent on the glass and Lane put in 6 minutes of outstanding defense. When on the floor he was guarding Scotty Pippen and held him without a field goal, using his size and good feet to hang with him. The new lineups created by not having Appleby or Lewis on the floor played really well, and it was actually when Florida went back to their normal lineups in the second half that Vanderbilt was able to get back in the game.
Bad Chemistry
When Vanderbilt went on their run to take the lead in the second half, the lineup the Gators had out there was Tyree Appleby, Noah Locke, Scottie Lewis, Anthony Duruji, and Colin Castleton. That might seem like a good group of players, but that lineup has been terrible this season. They have only scored 0.74 points per possession while allowing 1.24 points per possession defensively, which makes them the worst lineup that the Gators still play regularly. So, when Vanderbilt went on an 8-0 run against them, possibly it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Gators would be wise to try to not use this lineup again this season.
Leading The Way
Tre Mann has been playing his best basketball the last few weeks and he nearly single handedly won this game for the Gators. He had 22 points on efficient 7-12 shooting while also contributing 7 rebounds and 6 assists. He also hit the biggest shot of the game, a long stepback two that stretched the Gators’ lead to 3 in the final minute of the game. Mann is unquestionably the best and most important player on the Gators right now and they should consider giving him a lot more shots. Sure, 12 is a decent number of attempts, but if he is going to be so efficient they could seriously up his volume and sacrifice some efficiency because right now any shot he takes is a good one for the Gators.
Next Up
The Gators will now play Tennessee for the third time this season. They are 1-1, though since the Gators played without Tre Mann in the loss they’ve got to be feeling good about their chances with him in the lineup. He’ll be the best scorer in the game and he’s on a massive hot streak.