Gators fall at Vanderbilt, 88-72
The Florida Gators (14-15, 7-9 SEC) lost on Saturday night against the Vanderbilt Commodores (16-13, 9-7 SEC) in Nashville, 88-72.
The loss for Florida is their third straight, and Vanderbilt completes the season sweep of the Gators. Before this season, UF had beaten the Commodores in nine consecutive meetings.
For the first time in perhaps a month or more, the Florida offense was able to get off to a pretty quick start.
However, the Vanderbilt offense was, too. The Gators struggled to get inside and were outscored in the paint in the first half, 16-4.
Kyle Lofton’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the Gators into the locker room down, 46-36.
Vanderbilt was able to keep Florida at arm’s length for just about the rest of the way. A Riley Kugel layup made it a 9-point game with under 8 minutes to play, but that was the closest UF would get.
A Liam Robbins 3-pointer with Jason Jitoboh all over him with just 3:53 to play was the dagger as he gave the ‘Dores a 13-point lead.
Riley Kugel led all scorers with 20 points with two shot makes from beyond the arc and four rebounds. It marked his second straight 20-point performance after a season-high 24 against Kentucky.
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Thirteen of Kyle Lofton’s 15 points came in the first half as he really settled into the game in the back half of the first half. The veteran point guard hit three of his six 3-point attempts on the night.
All of Will Richard’s 9 points came in the second half of action, and he led the Gators with seven rebounds. He was one of the main reasons Florida was able to hang around early on in the second half.
Kowacie Reeves and Aleks Szymczyk each added 7 of their own points, but it wasn’t going to be enough against Vanderbilt on Saturday night.
Robbins didn’t have quite the performance he did the first time around, but he still had 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. He was one of five Commodores in double digits.
Florida’s lack of rebounding on defensive end was crippling, giving the Commodores far too many second-chance opportunities. Vanderbilt outrebounded UF, 42-31.
The Gators will go to Athens on Tuesday night, looking to sweep the Georgia Bulldogs on the season.
Stay tuned to Gators Online.
