Vandy Edges the Gators at Home

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

Alex Gordon sinking the game-winning free throw.

Trounced… Again

After Saturday’s shellacking at the hands of Arkansas, I didn’t think it could get much worse. I knew we were in for a game against Tennessee, but the first half got me thinking we could actually win. Then came that other team onto the court. The one that forces shots. That doesn’t drive to the rim. That plays like midgets running around in circles against a team full of Shaqs.

UT must have thought it was Christmas the way Florida turned the ball over in the second half. After a solid shooting performance in the first half, Florida finished the night still shooting 52.8% to UT’s 49.3%, but the 3-point percentage dropped below 30%. UT hit on 43.3% of their 3-pointers. Florida defended the lane well for much of the game, but gave Lofton and company way too many open looks from beyond the arc. Lofton finished 6-11 from three point range, and Jujuan Smith finished 6-12.

What truly killed all momentum from the first half was the officiating in the second half. The first few minutes were clean, but from about five minutes in to the end, Florida couldn’t breathe without a whistle being blown. There were several clean blocks called fouls. At one point Chandler Parsons reached out and whiffed as Prince blew by him to the basket, and was called for the foul.

Florida needs another signature victory to add to their resume down the final stretch. They should be looking for revenge when the Vols come to town, and a win at Vandy on the 16th should help their case. Look for Florida to win 6-7 out of their remaining 8 games and pick up steam heading into the SEC Tourney. If they fare well in the SEC Tournament, I’d guess they may pick up a seed in the 5-8 range for the NCAA Tournament. Otherwise, there’s a chance they could be left out when March Madness rolls around.