Gators get back in win column with 77-64 victory over Vandy

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators rebounded from their overtime loss at Alabama with a 77-64 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday. It marked the sixth consecutive win at home in SEC play and improves their record in the O’Dome to 12-1 this season.

Florida led by double digits for the final six minutes of the first half and the entire second period, pushing the lead to 22. The Commodores had just 20 points at the break and only made five 3s for the game as UF allowed its lowest scoring output in SEC play.

“We defended really well today. I thought this was one of our better defensive efforts in a while, we held them to 35 percent from the field,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “I thought we gave ourselves a really good chance by the way we locked in, and against a team like Vandy and the sets they run it’s more about concepts, understanding what your matchup against certain guys, what you are willing to give up, what you are not, and which guys are no 3s allowed guys. I thought the guys locked in to the personnel today.”

The Gators finished with trio of scorers in double figures. Will Richard led the team with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-9 from downtown. That’s his fifth 20-point game and ties his season high for 3s.

“In practice, I’ve been working on staying in my shot and stuff like that, not leaning forward or back when I land,” Richard said. “It’s really just reps paying off.”

Fellow junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. was 3-for-7 behind the arc and had 19, one shy of his fifth straight 20-point game, while senior forward Tyrese Samuel scored 11 of his 15 in the first half with six rebounds and two blocks.

Alex Condon added 8 points and grabbed a team-high nine boards in 26 minutes played. UF was outrebounded for the second straight game (38-37) as sophomore center Micah Handlogten was held scoreless and fouled out, playing just 14 minutes.

In addition to Condon, fellow freshmen forward Thomas Haugh contributed 7 points, two rebounds and two blocks with Handlogten in foul trouble.

“The frontcourt depth is a huge part of our success obviously,” Golden said. “Obviously Micah has been huge for us in a lot of games, but it is comforting to have Alex and Tommy able to come off the bench and provide us really, really good minutes. Now obviously I want to keep Micah get out there longer so we keep those other guys fresher and keep a good rotation going. But in a game like today, we needed Alex to step up and play a lot more minutes. And as he’s done all year, he’s proven capable.”

Vanderbilt sophomore forward Ven-Allen Lubin led the Commodores (7-20, 2-12 SEC) with 15 points. Senior guards Ezra Manjon and Evan Taylor also scored 10 apiece.

“I thought we had some good opportunities ourselves. I thought we had a lot of game pressure on the table. I thought we did a good job giving pressure on the rim, getting fouled. But on the road, you just can’t afford to miss free throws like we did,” said Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse, whose team was 19-for-29 at the line. “I’m really impressed with how we competed on the boards. We actually outrebounded this team 38-37 with 12 offensive rebounds. They got 10 and I thought they worked for them.”

Senior point guard Zyon Pullin’s 23-game double-digit scoring streak ended with just 2 points scored, but he managed a game-high +25 plus-minus along with six assists vs. one turnover, improving his assist-to-turnover ratio to 4.10, second-best in the nation.

Sophomore guard Riley Kugel played just three minutes for the second game in a row, checking in after the first media timeout and returning to the bench shortly after. He scored 2 points with a rebound and a turnover, spending the entire second half in his warmup shirt.

The Gators (19-8, 9-5 SEC) are back in the O’Dome on Wednesday for their second to last home game of the season against Missouri. The Tigers (8-19, 0-14) are the only winless SEC team in conference play.