No. 6 Florida vs Vanderbilt Game Thread

[Mark Wheeler]

No. 6 Florida takes on Vanderbilt at 7:00 p.m. in ExacTech Arena in a game being played on the SEC Network

Luke Adragna will be courtside providing updates and observations.

LIVE STATS
PREGAME NOTES

 

[Luke Adragna]

Some pre-game looks at Vanderbilt:

- Vanderbilt entered this season picked to finish dead-last (No. 16) in the Southeastern Conference, but the Commodores have largely exceeded expectations. VU is 16-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
- Vanderbilt struggles on the defensive end of the court. Their top big Devin McGlockton stands at just 6-foot-7, which could open several opportunities for Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon to create lanes for Florida's shifty, quick-footed guards.
- The Commodores are the worst defensive rebounding team in the SEC. I expect Florida will dominate the boards and heavily control the pace of the game.
- Vanderbilt has an array of tall, multiple-tooled guards, but very few of them can shoot. The Commodores rank outside the top-200 teams in 3-pt FG%.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

According to ESPN Analytics Florida is a huge favorite over Vanderbilt this evening.

 

[Luke Adragna]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1886916059803869233

 

[Luke Adragna]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1886928270479745508

 

[Luke Adragna]

H1 - 15:36 | Timeout

VU 10
UF 7

Alijah Martin has turned over the ball four times to start the contest, but Florida is staying close, hitting all three of their shot attempts. Not an ideal start without Clayton, but UF has figured it out plenty of times starting slow.

 

[Luke Adragna]

Florida is aware of the size mismatch down low. Condon has called for the ball several times below the basket, and his teammates are feeding him.

 

[Luke Adragna]

Urban Klavzar has a huge opportunity to build confidence getting meaningful minutes against Vanderbilt.

Coming into today's contest, Klavzar shot just 30% from the field with three makes on 16 attempts from beyond the arc.

 

[Luke Adragna]

H1 - 11:21

VU 17
UF 13

Florida is winning the rebound battle but has struggled to limit turnovers to this point (8). Vanderbilt, one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, has hit three of its eight attempts so far.

 

[Luke Adragna]

#Gators guard Alijah Martin walked into the tunnel after suffering what looked to be like a hip injury. The senior guard was holding his left side and walked off under his own power.

 

[Luke Adragna]

H1 - 7:56 | Timeout

VU 23
UF 22

Aberdeen just threw up a prayer with the shot clock winding down and landed it from beyond the arc. He's leading Florida scorers with 7 points and is 3-of-5 from the field. Gators have had some pretty unique lineups so far with Isaiah Brown, Urban Klavzar and Sam Alexis all receiving minutes.

 

[Luke Adragna]

H1 - 5:05 | Timeout

UF 31
VU 31

Both teams are playing nearly identical in the box score. Vanderbilt has landed six of its eight last shot attempts. Aberdeen leads UF scorers with 9 points.

 

[Luke Adragna]

HALFTIME

VU 36
UF 35

Florida trails by one after failing to gather much momentum in a back-and-forth first half. There were just three instances where the Gators scored two consecutive field goals without allowing one on the other end of the court. Florida went scoreless in final three minutes of the half.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1886941556453626059

 

[Luke Adragna]

H2 - 15:17 | Timeout

UF 46
VU 46

It's been nearly identical up to this point in the box score. Vanderbilt has one more made shot and shot attempt, both teams have landed four threes, Vanderbilt has just one more turnover.

Richard has five points this half so far.

 

[Luke Adragna]

H2 - 10:34 | Timeout

UF 55
VU 52

Finally, some momentum for Florida. The Gators are on a 6-0 run and Vanderbilt has made one of its last nine attempts. Will Richard is having a phenomenal second half with 11 points and is perfect beyond the arc.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

Despite being without starting guard Walter Clayton Jr., No. 6 Florida exploded in the second half for an 86-75 win over Vanderbilt. The Gators improved to 19-3 (6-3) on the season. Will Richard led UF with 21 points.