Gators fall to Vanderbilt, imperiling NCAA tournament bid
GAINESVILLE — Vanderbilt played spoiler once more against the Florida Gators.
Three months after they stunned Florida in football and cast a cloud over Billy Napier’s first season, the underdog Commodores shocked the Gators in men’s basketball and first-year coach Todd Golden.
Vanderbilt’s 88-80 victory on Saturday effectively could end the Gators’ NCAA Tournament hopes. To reach the Big Dance now Golden’s squad might need an even more stunning turn of events than Saturday’s no-show in the O’Connell Center.
“We made it a lot more difficult for us losing this game,” Golden said.
The Gators (13-12, 6-6 SEC) entered the day 8.5-point favorites aiming to make a late-season push against a seemingly favorable schedule. Instead, the Commodores (13-12, 6-6) continued to find their stride, picking up their third straight win and handing Florida its fourth loss in five games.
“It definitely hurts,” Florida big man Colin Castleton said. “It’s one we needed to win. We got to figure out ways to win these games down the stretch.”
Losses at Kansas State, Kentucky and Alabama could be forgiven. Each is in the top 40 of the NCAA Net rankings. Vanderbilt is No. 99.
The Commodores were the more complete team Saturday, beating the Gators inside and outside.
Commodores 7-footer Liam Robbins led the way outdueling the 6-foot-11 Castleton on the way to 32 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Three blocks came against Castleton, who finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in a battle of top SEC big men.
“Castleton is a heck of a player,” Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “Liam took that as a challenge and really came out to compete.”
Robbins also hit 3 of Vanderbilt’s 12 3-pointers. Florida finished 2 of 20 from beyond the arc.
After allowing 15 3s during Wednesday’s 28-point loss at No. 2
Alabama, the Gators again could not get out on shooters quickly enough.
“Today it was the same issue,” Golden said. “We have to get that right real quick.”
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 8-point lead behind 3-point shooting and applied the continued pressure from beyond the arc.
The Gators rallied, led by a surprising effort from sophomore Kowacie Reeves. After shooting 3 of 20 during the past four games, Reeves hit 5 of his first 6 shots. A 3-pointer by Reeves gave Florida a 56-52 lead early in the second half and appeared to signal a momentum shift.
Instead, the Gators could not keep up the offensive pace despite a career-high 18 points from Orlando freshman Riley Kugel and a 12-point, 6-assist, no-turnover game from point guard Kyle Lofton.
After Kugel’s acrobatic layup in traffic cut Florida’s deficit to 68-67, the Gators missed their next 7 shots as Vanderbilt pulled away.
Florida’s once-reliable defense could not respond and remained on its heels.
The Gators won 5 of 6 games early in SEC play and upset Tennessee behind an in-your-face approach. Golden said his players need to look in the mirror and rediscover a defensive edge.
“They’re a very good offensive team — that’s what their strength is,” Golden said of Vanderbilt. “Ours is our defense. That’s what I challenged my team about this. We’ve been good when we guard. If we don’t have that, we’re going to have to rely on some things that are inconsistent.
“Our defense has to be consistent.”