Keys to a Victory for Gators Against Commodores

Advancing to the SEC Tournament semifinals, the top-seeded Florida Gators take on the fourth-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday to kick off the day in the conference.

In the first matchup between the two, the Gators marched into enemy territory and walked away with a thrilling 98-94 victory over the Commodores. Leading the charge that day was Xaivian Lee, posting 20 points, six rebounds and two assists.

With that said, here are three keys for the Gators if they want to repeat the outcome from the first meeting.

Mitigate Tyler Tanner's Impact

Tanner ended as an All-SEC First Team selection this season after averaging 19.2 points and 5.2 assists per game in 32 games played. The 6-foot, 175-pound guard from Brentwood, Tenn., also shot a career-best 36.9 percent from three.

As for his performance against the Gators, Tanner ended with 20 points, five assists, three rebounds, one block and one steal in 36 minutes played. He also shot 7-for-14 and 2-for-4 from deep.

Keeping Tanner in check is paramount for the Gators defense. If Florida wants to advance to the final, making someone else beat them must be the way they go. Luckily, Florida has one of the best on-ball defenders in Boogie Fland to irritate Tanner.

Limit the Turnovers

Turnovers played a hand in making the game as close as it was in Nashville. Florida committed 10 turnovers to Vanderbilt’s four. That difference also led to Vanderbilt having 12 points off turnovers to Florida’s seven.

Then, on Friday, the Gators were plagued by turnovers against the Kentucky Wildcats. They turned the ball over a whopping 18 times in the win, handing 18 points to the Wildcats. Those turnovers let Kentucky surge back into the game after trailing by double-digits in the second half.

Florida is at its best when they are thoughtful of the basketball and will need to keep it that way against Vanderbilt.

Control the Offensive Glass

Like any Florida game, when they dominate the glass, especially on offense, good things happen.

In January’s matchup with Vanderbilt, Florida grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. That supplied them with 22 second-chance points. Rueben Chinyelu was the driving force in the Gators' winning this category, snagging five offensive rebounds against the Commodores.

Vanderbilt lacks the size Florida has, but that does not mean they are not tenacious down low or will be pushovers. Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten have to assert themselves on the glass to give the Gators the best chance.