Gators going for ninth straight win over Vanderbilt

Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team travels to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

On the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, UF is in must-win territory for its last two games. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently seeds the Gators outside of the tournament as the eighth team out. 

Florida has now taken down the Commodores in eight-straight matchups after beating them in Gainesville on Jan. 22. The last time UF fell to Vandy was in Nashville during the 2017-18 season.

“Now, we’re back on the road in an environment that ought to be pretty hard to play in against a team that is playing really well,” UF head coach Mike White said.

A win for the Gators would be their 19th of the season and put them above .500 in SEC play (9-8) heading into their regular season finale against No. 6 Kentucky.

What went right for UF in first meeting

The Gators shut down Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. in the O’Dome, which was the difference in the first meeting.

He was held to a season-low 6 points as he ran into foul trouble and finished 1-for-10 shooting the basketball.

With Pippen Jr. having little impact, Florida was able to hold the Commodores to just 42 points, which is the second fewest against an SEC opponent under White. Just 14 of the 42 points came in the second half.

“He’s one of the best players in the country and obviously one of the best players in our league,” White said of Pippen. “He didn’t play much. He never got into a rhythm. We expected a completely different performance from him and from their team. Most improved team in the league, in my opinion. A team that’s playing better than they were on that night.”

Shutting down Pippen Jr. is the key for every team playing Vanderbilt, and the Gators managed to contain the SEC’s top scorer (20.2 points per game). He also leads Vandy with 3.9 assists per game and two steals per game, the fourth-most in the SEC.

The Commodores lack in the scoring department outside of Pippen. Forward Jordan Wright is the only other player on the team averaging double figures (11.9 points). Wright also leads the team with six rebounds per game.

How Gators sweep the season series

Vanderbilt didn’t face UF forward Colin Castleton the first time and still lost the rebounding battle 42-34.

Castleton found a variety of ways to contribute Saturday against UGA, and the Gators could benefit from him facilitating more offense Tuesday night and moving forward.

Lack of depth in the front court has been a struggle for Florida as of late, with forward Anthony Duruji missing the last game. According to White, Duruji and forward CJ Felder both missed Monday’s practice.

“CJ’s banged up, too,” White said. “I mean, CJ hasn’t practiced in a while, didn’t practice (Monday). Ant didn’t practice (Monday). We’ve just been banged up in the front court. Yeah, difficult, but what are you gonna do? You’ve gotta figure out a way. That’s all you can do. Control what you can control. Hopefully, one or both of those guys go (Tuesday night).”

The Gators have been able to count on guard Tyree Appleby scoring in double figures lately (11 of his last 12 full games played), and fellow guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. stepped up against Georgia with a season-high 27 points.

Appleby, Fleming, Castleon and Myreon Jones all scored in double figures in Athens, with UF making a season-high 14 3-pointers.

“I think you’ve got, at least in my experience and with this program, a better chance of complacency kicking in at home,” White said. “I think, on the road, if you can get off to an early start, a confidence boost, hitting some shots, it can really help you.”

It’s now or never for the Gators. A loss puts a serious dent in the team’s NCAA Tournament resume, while win No. 19 keeps their dream alive for the Big Dance. 

WHO: Florida Gators (18-11, 8-8 SEC) at Vanderbilt Commodores (14-14, 6-10 SEC)

WHEN: Tuesday, March 1, 8:30 p.m. ET

WHERE: Memorial Gymnasium

WATCH: SEC Network

RADIO: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

BETTING ODDS: Line: EVEN; Over/Under: 135