Three Takeaways From The Commodores' Road Loss to Florida
The Vanderbilt Commodores (16-6, 4-5) had a great opportunity to go into Gainesville and get its third victory over a top ten team in three weeks. Unfortunately, the Commodores couldn't take advantage of the Florida Gators (19-3, 6-3) missing its best player and squandered a slim halftime lead to drop its second game in a row.
The Commodores still sit in favorable position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 but will need to collect more resume-building victories as the SEC season marches into the home stretch.
Here are three takeaways from Vanderbilt's 86-75 loss to the Florida Gators.
Vanderbilt Outmatched Inside
The Commodores entered Tuesday's game knowing they didn't stack up well on the inside with the Florida bigs. First year head coach Mark Byington brought in 11 new players this season, but doesn't have a player on the roster over 6-foot-10.
Despite the mismatch the Commodores outscored the Gators in the paint 42-40, but the size issue manifested itself in other ways. Florida's 6-foot-11 forward Alex Condon and 6-foot-9 Thomas Haugh to get after the glass, outrebounding the 'Dores 35-29 with Condon and Haugh collecting nine a piece.
"Yeah, they're so physical, we knew that coming in, that wasn't a surprise," Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said. "If you watch it, we're battling. We're fighting, we're battling and I've got to do better and come up with a scheme or something. The guy's effort is good. We're undersized and we know it. We're battling down there on the rebounds around the glass. We've got to come up with something, we do."
Florida's size disparity got Vanderbilt into foul trouble as both Devin McGlockton and Jaylen Carey fouled out of the contest. The fouls sent the Gators to the free throw line 11 more times than Vanderbilt and ultimately the 'Dores missed the offensive production of Carey and McGlockton as they combined for 29 points on just 13 shots.
Vanderbilt's Struggles to Defend 3-Point Line
The Gators utilized a barrage of 3-point shooting in the second half to surge past Commodores. Florida finished 48 percent from long-range but made seven-of-11 in the second half to open a double-digit lead and ultimately claim the win.
"I thought Florida had a great response to the way we were playing," said Byington after the game. "I thought we were right there and they turned it on and they made some tough threes. I think the inside game, we knew that was going to be an issue, but I think the threes were back-breakers. 7 [Urban Klavzar] made a three in transition, actually made a couple of them. 11 [Denzel Aberdeen] made a three in the first half end of the shot clock kind of a Hail Mary shot and so we're close, but that's a really good team."
Defending the 3-point line in the second half has been a problem during the two-game skid as Florida and Oklahoma combined for 14-of-23 (60.8 percent) from deep in the second half. Vanderbilt allowed Will Richard to make all four of his attempts in the second half while Urban Klavzar came off the bench and made both of his attempts in the middle of the Gators' second-half surge.
Second Half Defensive Woes
The Commodores played well enough to take a one-point lead into halftime but got out of sorts defensively in the second half allowing 51 points on 64 percent shooting from the floor. The 'Dores allowed points on 71 percent of Florida's second half possessions, giving up a whopping 1.645 points per possession.
"The big thing that sticks out is we've got to figure out a better way to get stops in the second half," Byington said. "We've done it. I think we ended Kentucky with three straight stops at the end of the game and right now these situations we've got to figure something how to get stops at the end of the game. Our guys are playing hard, I love their effort, I thought they were together, they were ready to play and sometimes you just give credit where credit's due. I thought Florida made some good plays today."
Florida only turned the ball over twice in the second half and managed a combined 15 layups and dunks to supplement the deadly 3-point shooting.
The Commodores return home on Saturday to take on the Texas Longhorns who currently sit 31st in offensive efficiency which may provide relief as Oklahoma and Florida's offense ranked 17th and 5th resepectively
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My name is Joe Gaither and I graduated from the University of Alabama in 2018. I began my sports media career in radio in 2019, working for three years in Tuscaloosa covering the University of Alabama and other local high school sports. In 2023 I began my career with On SI writing and covering predominantly college athletics with a focus on the University of Alabama, University of Missouri and Vanderbilt.