3 takeaways as Florida blows out Vanderbilt to get back to .500 in SEC play
Florida had its most convincing win in SEC play at home on Saturday against the Vanderbilt Commodores. In the team’s second game without star center Colin Castleton available due to a shoulder injury, the Gators pulled away for a 61-42 win in front of the O’Connell Center crowd.
UF led by just three at the half, but a big second half in which it outscored the Commodores (10-8, 2-4 SEC) by 16 and held Vandy’s scorers in check was enough to get the win.
The Gators (12-6, 3-3 SEC) are back to .500 in league play after losing their first three games, and they capture the all-time lead in the series over Vanderbilt for the first time ever, to boot. Florida is set to play four games in a week with the make-up against Ole Miss up next on Monday night, but it has some momentum on its side after a rough schedule to open its conference slate. Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Outside shooting struggles in Castleton's absence
Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
With Castleton out against Mississippi State on Wednesday night, the Gators had to change their offensive philosophy quite a bit. Instead of feeding the reliable big man in the paint, they instead relied on some of the best outside shooting we’ve seen from this team in a while.
That formula didn’t really hold up in this one, though. Florida shot just 38.3% from the field and an even worse 25% from three-point range. It was clearly attempting to replicate the strategy from the win over the Bulldogs, shooting the long ball 36 times, but it didn’t prove to be very effective.
Tyree Appleby, who shot from beyond the line in nine of his 10 looks, was the only Florida player in double figures with 11 points. Meanwhile, Brandon McKissic scored nine points but shot just 3 of 10 from the field. Big man Jason Jitoboh had another solid game after being inserted into the starting lineup, though, scoring eight points while hitting three of four shots and nearly notching a double-double with 10 rebounds.
In fact, the paint was where Florida found most of its offensive success in this one. Nearly half of its points — 28, to be exact — came in the paint, which was a stark contrast to the way the matchup with Mississippi State played out. UF won the rebounding battle 42-34 (including a 16-10 mark on offensive boards, which led to 20 second-chance points). At the very least, the Gators demonstrated some offensive versatility in this game despite not shooting very well.
The lockdown defense is back
Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been a while since Florida had an unequivocally dominant defensive performance, but Saturday’s outing easily meets that criteria. The Commodores’ 42 points were the least UF has allowed all season, and it entirely shut down one of the best scoring players in the conference.
Scotty Pippen Jr. leads the SEC with an average of 18.8 points per contest, but he was held to just six in this one while shooting just one of 10 from the field. Starting guard Jordan Wright and backup Trey Thomas led the team with seven points apiece, but neither was enough to make a difference in this one.
Vanderbilt shot 28.9% from the field and was a disastrous four of 23 (17.4%) from three-point range. The Commodores committed 12 turnovers, which led to 23 Florida points coming the other way. The shots weren’t falling, and the 12 points the Commodores managed in the paint weren’t enough to make a difference.
This isn’t an elite offensive team, but it does possess arguably the league’s most feared backcourt scorer. Florida’s defense looked elite in this game, and that’s not a phrase I’ve been able to write about this team in a while. Without Castleton, UF will certainly take it.
Florida is in a better position than it looked like it would be
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Many wrote this team off after an 0-3 start to conference play. Florida looked hot to start the season, but it went from comfortable tournament projections to undeniable bubble status. Before Wednesday night’s game against another bubble team in Mississippi State without Castleton, the Gators looked like they could be heading for a spiral.
Beating the Bulldogs and a Vanderbilt team that is underrated but still not a real postseason contender may not give fans confidence that this team is poised to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, but it should help the team’s confidence and, more importantly, keeps the resume from getting too bad.
If UF can get a win against a down Ole Miss team on Monday night despite the quick turnaround, it will enter a Wednesday night matchup against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville with a winning record in conference play. The Volunteers are beatable, though not having Castleton will make an upset on the road difficult.
But a win in that game would go a tremendous way to shore up Florida’s tournament resume, and the team could be in a much better spot than it looked like it would be just a week ago.
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