At the Buzzer: Vanderbilt 67, Florida 61 (Instant Analysis)
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
VANDERBILT 67, FLORIDA 61
WHAT HAPPENED: At Nashville, Tenn., the Commodores scored the game's first 15 points and then staved off any chance of the Gators comeback by living at the free-throw line in snapping seven-game losing with a home win at old Memorial Gymnasium. Vandy put four players in double-figures, led by freshman guard Riley LaChance's 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting from long distance, plus forward James Sikham, who in a rare start tallied 12 points (with 11 coming from the free-throw line), 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Florida missed its first nine field-goal attempts of the game and did not score until the 12:07 mark of the first period (when junior forward Alex Murphy drove the paint for a layup). The rest of the way was a constant, uphill grind, as Vandy took full advantage of UF's persistent fouling and also blasted the Gators on the glass 42-26.
WHAT IT MEANS: Florida lost to a team that came in tied for last place in the SEC and on a seven-game losing streak. The defeat dumped UF back into the jumbled middling pack of the league standings, tied with Georgia for eighth place at the halfway point of the 18-game conference schedule.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: UF junior guard Michael Frazier II snapped out of his two-game scoring slump with 21 points. After failing to make a 3-pointer in either of the last two games -- after making at least one in 41 straight -- Frazier was 6-for-10 from the floor, 4-for-6 from deep and made all five of his free throws. At one point, Frazier scored 16 of Florida's 20 points as the Gators attempted to mount a comeback from that huge first-half hole.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: UF took 16 free throws in the game, compared to 42 by Vanderbilt, which converted 29 of them. Now, before launching into any officiating conspiracy theories, remember UF outshot Arkansas 25-7 from the line just three days earlier. That's life on the road in conference play sometimes. You have play through it.
BONUS STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Commodores came into the game ranked 12th in rebounding margin in SEC play at minus-2.2, yet absolutely pounded the Gators on the boards to finish with a plus-16 advantage.
UP NEXT: The ESPN College GameDay crew invades Gainesville this weekend and will broadcast live from the O'Connell Center in the run-up to Saturday night's showdown between the Gators (12-10, 5-4) and No. 1-ranked Kentucky (22-0, 9-0). The Wildcats, who blasted Georgia at home 69-58 Tuesday night, have plenty of players left over from their 2014 NCAA runner-up team that was beaten three times during UF's historic run to a perfect 21-0 record and both the regular-season and league tournament titles.
