I spent the afternoon in Nashville for the game and was pleasantly surprised the Gators even came close in this one. The game was phenomenal; an emotional roller coaster careening at unsafe speeds all afternoon through the Memorial Gym. It was a tidal wave back and forth as Vandy took the lead, then Florida came back and went back on top.

First Impressions

Florida’s defense was better, but not great. We still gave up several open looks at the basket. Vanderbilt made two 3-pointers right out of the gate. On both plays it looked like Dan Werner was standing in the lane guarding air. We forced 13 turnovers to our 10. We out-rebounded the ‘Dores 34 to 31.

Key Numbers:

1… The number of fouls Vanderbilt was charged with in the first half.

2… The number of fouls Vanderbilt had 30 minutes into the game (more on this later).

1… The Gator’s made one 3-pointer the entire game. One! Werner was 1-6 and continues to put up bricks. Werner needs to develop his inside shot and stop putting up prayers. He is barely making 1 of 4 shots from behind the arc, and is costing points.

11… Florida’s leading scorers, Calathes and Speights, had only 11 points. Walter Hodge also had 10 points. Unless our bench is averaging 9 points a peice, that’s not going to win ball games with the way the defense has been. It is amazing we stayed in the ballgame with this kind of production from the offense. We did make 11-13 free throws, which was encouraging. Speights was 5-6 from the line.

Final Score: 58-61

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Alex Gordon sinking the game-winning free throw.