Florida vs. Vanderbilt score, takeaways: No. 19 Gators stay hot edging No. 10 Commodores on road

Basketball

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Image Credit: Maddie Washburn, UAA

Despite giving up significant leads in each half, the No. 19 Florida Gators prevailed on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee, completing a 98-94 win over the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores. Continuing to improve in SEC play under head coach Todd Golden, Florida won its third game over a ranked opponent in the last two weeks, while scoring 90+ points for the fourth straight game and seventh time in eight contests.

The Gators (13-5, 4-1 SEC) have suddenly ascended into the top spot in the SEC standings, running as hot as any team in the league after a two-game road trip. While Florida still has some inconsistencies that it must address, the team’s level of play is raising eyebrows just as the season is heating up.

Let’s take a look at what went down with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … junior forward Alex Condon made two free throws, pushing the Gators ahead by four points with 6.1 seconds remaining and completing a game-ending 6-0 run.

Vanderbilt broke a tie with 2 minutes left, but junior center Rueben Chinyelu responded with a jump shot from the free-throw line to knot it back up with 97 seconds to go. The ‘Dores answered with a midrange jumper to go back in front, but redshirt senior guard Xaivian Lee drained a step-back 3-pointer to push Florida ahead 95-94 with 45 seconds remaining. After a tremendous defensive stop, Lee went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line, but Vanderbilt missed an ensuing layup preceding the last possession.

Early in the second half, Chinyelu took advantage of a Flagrant 1 foul by draining four straight free throws, and junior forward Thomas Haugh immediately followed with a 3-pointer for a 7-0 run that turned a five-point deficit into a two-point lead – all in 2 seconds. Florida followed with a 9-0 run, including six more from Chinyelu, to take a nine-point lead. Vanderbilt immediately erased its deficit, however, aided by three missed free throws and UF’s second 3-second violation of the game. Consecutive And-1s from Haugh and sophomore G Boogie Fland pushed the Gators back ahead five with as many minutes to play.

First half focus: After a slow start, the Gators used a 13-0 run concluded by consecutive 3-pointers from Lee and sophomore G Isaiah Brown to mount a nine-point lead midway through the period. A second triple from Lee pushed that advantage to 11, but multiple poor offensive sequences on Florida’s behalf allowed Vanderbilt to respond with a 10-2 stretch and ultimately erase its deficit. The ‘Dores created a 26-14 scoring edge over the final 8:55 to lead by one at the break.

Exceptional efforts: Chinley was an absolute monster, scoring a career-high 20 points (16 in the second half) as part of a double-double that included 10 rebounds. He went 6 of 6 from the line and registered three assists for good measure. Lee matched “The Ruler” with 20 points, his most yet in an SEC game. He went 8 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 7 from downtown with six boards and two dimes in his most complete effort of the season. Haugh and Condon combined for 34 points and 16 rebounds, hitting 13 of 15 gimmies. It was also a career day for Brown, who scored 14 points in 20 minutes, hitting 2 of 3 triples and all six of his free throws.

Uh-oh uniforms: A Gators staffer left multiple jerseys back home in Gainesville, Florida, necessitating both Lee and Fland to wear different numbers. Lee donned No. 99, and given his performance, it was a game-long joke that he should switch to that jersey permanently.

Rolling to red: Earlier this week, Florida announced that redshirt junior transfer G AJ Brown would take a redshirt this season. While his offseason shoulder surgery is not an issue as Brown is medically cleared, his spot on the depth chart is not such that he was likely to get on the court. Certainly a disappointing result for a 29-game starter at Ohio last season, though it does provide him an extra year playing and practicing with his brother.

Odds & ends: Florida improved to 76-74 all-time against Vanderbilt, 22-50 in Nashville and 3-3 under Golden … the Gators are now 9-68 all-time against top 0 opponents on the road, 4-6 under Golden … Florida is now 2-3 when trailing at halftime, 13-1 when leading with 5 minutes left, 13-3 when outreboudning an opponent, 9-1 when shooting 45% or better from the field, 12-0 when outshooting an opponent, 5-1 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range, 10-1 when attempting more free throws, 12-2 when 4+ players score in double figures and 7-0 when 5+ players score in double figures

What it means: While the Gators still took 24 attempts from beyond the arc, they made a season-best 37.5% of their tries, which made all the difference in a close game. Lee and Condon took a few questionable risks from long range, but the former’s step-back triple — an ill-advised shot — ended up being among the best of the contest. Florida dominated Vanderbilt on the glass, but the paint scoring battle was shockingly close (40-36). The ‘Dores hitting 20 of 22 free throws and only committing four turnovers contributed to the game was so close.

Most impressive is how the Gators play away from home in difficult situations under Golden, who is now responsible for more top 10 road victories than any coach in program history (yes, including Billy Donovan). UF is never going to be a quality 3-point shooting team this season, but if it can offer respectable efforts like the one it put forward Saturday, it has a greater chance to succeed in the postseason than it looked like it might just a couple of weeks ago.

The Gators have now defeated three top 21 teams in a two-week span.

What’s next? Florida will spend the next week back at home, first hosting LSU on Tuesday. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET and air live on ESPN2.