Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
Men's Basketball Defeats Vanderbilt 81-71
Sunday, February 8, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson each scored 25 points leading No. 21 Florida (14-6, 5-4) to a 81-71 victory over No. 25 Vanderbilt (14-5, 3-5) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in front of a crowd on 11,971.
"The team showed great heart and great toughness tonight," said head coach Billy Donovan. "I was very happy with our leadership from Walsh and Roberson down the stretch. We talked in the huddle about taking the game down the stretch and I thought we did that."
The Gators jumped to an early 7-2 lead beginning with a three-pointer from Roberson. Florida never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as seven points, going into the intermission up 33-30.
Matt Walsh scored 13 of his 25 points in the first half while Roberson pulled down seven rebounds within the first 13 minutes of the game. Florida out-rebounded Vanderbilt 9-2 on the offensive glass in the first half.
Florida came out of the break strong putting together an 11-3 run. Roberson had three consecutive three pointers during that stretch giving the Gators an 11-point advantage. The Commodores were able to put together an 8-0 run in the second half brining the game within three points, but Florida was able to fend off any further damage.
"Anthony Roberson got off there at the beginning of the second half and kind of stretched the lead out," said Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, "and it was difficult from that point to get back. We never had control of the game after that. We got back in range, but never got in control of it again."
The Gators were 35-of-39 (90 percent) from the line for the game. Florida went to the 10 times within the last four minutes. Walsh was perfect from the line (14-of-14) for the game as Florida shot 96 percent (25-of-26)from the charity stripe in the second half.
Christian Drejer and Adrian Moss also scored in double-digits for the Gators. Drejer finished the night with 12 points and five assists. Adrian Moss added 10 points and seven rebounds. As a team, the Gators out-rebounded Vanderbilt 34-28.
Roberson finished the night with a career-high nine rebounds and The Gators only had eight turnovers in the game, their second-best effort this season.
Florida returns to action when they face LSU on Saturday, February 14 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Jefferson Pilot.
