Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
Florida Men's Hoops Dominates No. 13 Vandy, 86-64
Sunday, January 27, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Junior guard Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) scored a career-high 19 points, and freshman guard Nick Calathes (Winter Park, Fla.) added 15 points and 10 assists as the University of Florida men's basketball team cruised past No. 13 Vanderbilt, 86-64, on Sunday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Gators (18-3, 5-1 SEC) took a one-half game lead over Tennessee for first place in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division standings. The Commodores (17-3, 2-3) have dropped three out of their last four contests after starting the season 17-0.
Florida put together an incredible 20-0 spurt in the first half that helped build a 34-6 lead en route to the 13th victory in 15 games against the Vanderbilt, including seven straight in Gainesville.
“The first 10 minutes was as good as we could have played,” said Florida head coach Billy Donovan. “When you get up by that many points, you always get concerned. You want your guys to maintain aggressiveness. Vanderbilt is a really good team.”
The offensive display was coupled with an aggressive, trapping defense that forced one of the league's premier offenses into numerous turnovers and held in check two of the SEC's leading scorers.
Vanderbilt forward Shan Foster, who averaged a league-leading 20.1 points per game, was held to seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. Foster was scoreless in the first half and saw his 23 consecutive double-figure scoring games streak come to an end.
Center A.J. Ogilvy, the fifth-highest scoring freshman in the nation, was held to nine points, which was nine points under his scoring average of 18.5. Vandy was led in scoring by guard Alex Gordon who contributed 13 points.
“Both (Foster and Ogilvy) are good players,” said Donovan. “I think it was a combination of our defense and them not having their best games. I can't say that it was our team who contained them.”
Meanwhile, all five Florida starters registered double digits as the Gators connected for 29 field goals on 26 assists. Freshman center Marreese Speights (St. Petersburg, Fla.) poured in 12 points and pulled down eight boards. Sophomore forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.) had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and freshman guard Jai Lucas (Bellaire, Texas) chipped in 11 points.
Calathes registered his second career double-double, while Hodge keyed the first-half run with 11 points in the frame. With Florida leading 17-6 at the 12:25 mark in the first half, Speights scored on back-to-back baskets followed by consecutive 3-point shots from Hodge and Werner to push the advantage to 27-6.
Hodge scored on another lay-up to give UF a 34-6 lead before Gordon ended a 23-0 Gator run with a 3-pointer at the 7:51 mark in the first half.
Florida picked up where it left off out of the locker room on a Lucas 3-pointer to start the second half. Vandy would trim the lead to 70-53 on a Foster basket at the 7:46 mark in the half, but it would be as close as the Commodores would get.
Florida finished off one of the SEC's most dominating performances of the season at the free-throw line. Calathes connected on 8-of-11 at the charity stripe, all coming in the second half.
The Gators begin a two-game road trip next Saturday, Feb. 2 at Arkansas before traveling to Tennessee on Feb. 5. Tip-off for the Florida-Arkansas contest is 3 p.m. ET.
