At the Buzzer: Florida 81, Vanderbilt 74 (Instant Analysis)
Saturday, December 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
The Gators opened their SEC slate Saturday by holding off Vanderbilt at home.
FLORIDA 81, VANDERBILT 74
WHAT HAPPENED: Graduate-transfer forward Egor Koulechov scored 22 points, including two free throws with 8.3 seconds, as the Gators held off a furious second-half comeback by the Commodores to get out of the sold-out Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center with a victory in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Koulechov had his best all-around game in weeks, but it was senior point guard Chris Chiozza who hit some clutch, acrobatic, hard drives in traffic during Vandy's rally from a 20-point deficit at intermission. Chiozza finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes. Junior guard KeVaughn Allen had 16 points and junior center Kevarrius Hayes was a significant defense presence on his way to seven points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Vandy was led by 18 points and seven rebounds from forward Jeff Roberson, plus 17 points from guard Matthew Fisher-Davis.
WHAT IT MEANS: Florida has now won six straight SEC openers, a streak that dates to the Gators' 2013 league championship season. Coach Mike White and hs team also got that Vandy monkey -- as in five straight losses the last two seasons -- off their backs. The Commodores were the only conference team White had not beaten since arriving at UF for the 2015-16 season.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: After an horrific run shooting the basketball, Koulechov put a line in the box score the likes of which he did early in the season. Over the previous eight games, Koulechov had made just seven of 37 shots from the 3-point line. He went 2-for-4 from deep in this one, but also scored from inside (5-for-13 overall) and was aggressive in getting to the free-throw line, where he was 10-for-10. Koulechov also led the team with eight rebounds. These kinds of games from the "Russian Rocket" will go a long way toward getting back some momentum for the UF offense.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Florida hit 27 of 30 free throws (including 22 of 25 in the second half). That's 90 percent. And that's also how you stifle a comeback.
STAGGERING STATISTIC II: After scoring just 20 points in the first half and going only 7-for-25 from the floor (28 percent), the Commodores equaled that total barely seven minutes into the second half by hitting eight of their first 10 shots. At one point, Vandy had made 10 of its first 15 second half shots on the way to going 19-for-37 overall (51.7 percent).
UP NEXT: The Gators (9-4, 1-0), winners of three straight, now take to the road to face No. 5 Texas A&M. The Aggies (11-1), armed with an enormous and talented front court (and a Ratings Percentage Index status of No. 8), open their SEC slate Saturday night at Alabama in a game against two teams projected to play in the NCAA Tournament.
