Pregame Stuff: No. 17 Florida vs Vanderbilt (Friday, 7 pm)

SEC TOURNAMENT
No. 17 FLORIDA vs VANDERBILT

When: Friday, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
Records: Florida 24-7; Vanderbilt 18-14
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, Jon Sundvold and Laura Rutledge)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Mark Wise)

STAKES (The Setup)

Bridgestone Arena is home to the NHL Nashville Predators, but is hosting the SEC Tournament for the sixth time and has a basketball capacity of 19.395.

Florida finished second in the Southeastern Conference standings and got a bye into the tournament quarterfinals as one of the top four seeds in the tournament, but now the No. 2 seed Gators have to face the team that handed them two of their four league losses. No. 7-seed Vanderbilt crushed Texas A&M 66-41 in Thursday night's second-round action and now faces UF for the second time in five days. .... The Gators, who have dropped two of their last three, are comfortably in the NCAA Tournament conversation, but a win today would likely lock up no worse than a No. 4 seed and a place in the Orlando regional pod. A loss and the Gators almost assuredly will be dispatched to one of the other seven sites. ... The Commodores, according to bracketologists everywhere, have earned one of the final NCAA at-large berths and done so at UF's expense, courtesy of a sweep of their season series. A third win over the Gators will only enhance their standing. ... Vandy defeated UF 73-71 Sunday at Memorial Coliseum, where the Commodores came from 12 down in the second half, took a late lead and held on with late free throws. Forward Luke Kornet scored 24 and grabbed six rebounds in that one. In Vandy's 68-66 win at Gainesville on Jan. 21, guard Matthew Fisher-Davis scored 19 points in another game the Commodores came from behind in the second half. ... Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 69-63, with wins in five of the previous six meetings, including four straight. This will mark the seventh time the Gators and Commodores have faced off in the SEC Tournament and the first time since 2011. UF is 6-4 all-time against Vandy in the event.

STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Devin Robinson	F	6-8	200	Junior	10.9 pts / 6.0 reb
Justin Leon	F	6-8	206	Senior	7.1 pts / 3.6 reb
Kevarrius Hayes	C	6-9	220	Sophomore	6.1 pts / 4.2 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	183	Sophomore	9.6 pts / 2.9 reb / 4.6 ast
Kasey Hill	PG	6-1	175	Senior	9.1 pts / 3.3 asts

Vanderbilt	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Luke Kornet	F	7-1	250	Senior	13.8 pts / 6.2 reb
Jeff Roberson	F	6-6	224	Junior	11.2 pts / 7.1 reb
Joe Toye	G	6-6	208	Sophomore	6.0 pts / 2.6 reb
Riley LaChance	PG	6-2	192	Junior	10.1 pts / 3.4 reb / 4.0 ast
Nolan Cressler	G	6-4	210	R-Senior	7.9 pts / 4.1 reb

STANDING OUT (One to Watch)

The Gators will have had five days to figure out a better way to deal with **Luke Kornet**. Then again, the previous month they had to think about didn't help. Neither did the previous year. Kornet is the biggest (literally) reason the Commodores have had the Gators' number the last two years. At 7-1, he not only can post, but late this season became the NCAA's all-time leader in made 3-pointers for a player at least 7 feet tall. He's currently at 34.9 percent from deep for the season. With Kornet, it's not just a matter of stationing a defender on the perimeter; it's the way Vandy screens to get him open shots. If teams over-guard, the Commodores will get lanes to the basket. That very scenario killed Florida last Saturday and especially neutralized sophomore center **Kevarrius Hayes**, who was so confused by the switching assignments he played just one minute in the first half, 10 for the game.

STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)

ABOUT THE GATORS: They didn't finish the season ranked No. 1 in the league in any of the prominent statistics, but they show up in the top five of 15 of them, including scoring offense (4th/78.8 ppg) and defense (3rd/66.4 ppg), field-goal percentage offense (5th/.453) and defense (4th/.407), 3-point percentage (3rd/.366) and 3-point percentage defense (2nd/.302) and turnover margin (2nd/plus-3.2). With regard to the latter, UF has been uncharacteristically loose with the ball, averaging 13.8 turnovers the previous seven games. ... First-Team All-SEC shooting guard KeVaughn Allen went into the Vandy game on an absolute tear, having hit 18 of his previous 33 shots from the floor, including 9-for-18 from the 3-point line. He opened the game 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-3 through 12 minutes, but did not score the rest of the game, missing all five of his shots -- and only taking 10 overall, despite playing 35 minutes. Allen needs to be (and stay) aggressive). ... Senior point guard Kasey Hill has 11 assists and 18 turnovers over the last five game, after going 1/5 against the Commodores. White addressed those numbers this week. ... Fifth-year graduate transfer forward Canyon Barry (12.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) was named SEC Sixth Man of the Year, with both he and backup guard Chris Chiozza (6.9 ppg, 3.7 apg) providing the Gators with huge lifts off the bench. Chiozza, though, has mired himself in foul trouble in recent games, due to careless over-reaching and unnecessary hand-checking that has been a point of emphasis with officials (and now his coaches). ... Forward Devin Robinson has maintained a high level of defensive play in the time since center John Egbunu was lost for the season. He's also rebounding the best of his career. ... ABOUT THE COMMODORES: Coach Bryce Drew, in his first season after jumping from his alma mater of Valparaiso, almost certainly has them headed back to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season, based on an impressive resume that includes one of the toughest schedules in the nation, plus two wins over the Gators. ... Vandy leads the SEC in 3-point percentage (.380) and free-throw percentage (.770). Make mistakes against their sound, efficient offense and the Commodores make you pay. ... Besides Kornet, UF was worked silly in the first two games by point guard Riley LaChance. He's the league's No. 1 3-point shooter at 48.8 percent, but LaChance has killed the Gators every bit as much on dribble penetration and miscues off switches. He has a deceiving first step and converts 84.6 percent of his free throws when defenders arrived too late. ... Though he leads the team in scoring, the 6-5 Fisher-Davis (14.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) has come off the bench late in the season. He's another excellent 3-point bomber (.374) and a prolific one, with a team high 74 makes from deep. ... Guard Nolan Cressler is another savvy player who has hit some really big baskets against the Gators this season, including the game-deciding drive and layup with 32 seconds left in the first meeting. ... Physical forward Jeff Roberson had a double-double against UF last season and last weekend went 5-for-5 from the floor for 15 points to go with six rebounds. He also shoots 3s very well.

STATS (Some Numbers of Note)

* 0 — Times the Gators have opened the SEC Tournament against the same team it closed the regular season against. This will be the first.

* plus-6 — Chiozza's assist-to-turnover ratio the previous five games.

* 7 — Vanderbilt players who have made at least 22 3-pointers this season, compared to five for Florida. The Commodores' big three (Fisher-Davis, Kornet and LaChance) each have at least 51 treys. The Gators have one player (Allen) with at least 42.

* 14 — Points for forward Keith Stone the past two games, after the redshirt freshman totaled three points his previous 12 games while trying to work his way through a nagging viral illness and accompanying vertigo symptoms.

* 2014 — The last year the Gators advanced past Friday's SEC quarterfinals. UF won the tournament that season, defeating Kentucky 61-60 in Atlanta, to complete the first perfect 21-0 run through the conference. Senior guard Scottie Wilbekin was voted the tournament MVP.

STATEMENT (Random thought)

Vanderbilt is a bad matchup for Florida -- and exactly why the Gators need to face the Commodores. March is about toughness. And survival. UF is the tournament's No. 2-seed. Prove it.

Gators Calendar

Pregame Stuff: No. 17 Florida vs Vanderbilt (Friday, 7 pm)

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Canyon Barry

Kevarrius Hayes

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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Pregame Stuff: No. 17 Florida vs Vanderbilt (Friday, 7 pm)

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Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Canyon Barry

Kevarrius Hayes

Kasey Hill

Justin Leon

Devin Robinson

Keith Stone

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