Florida Gators

FLORIDA vs VANDERBILT 

When: Wednesday, 9 p.m. (EST)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.   
Records: Florida (12-11, 4-6); Vanderbilt (9-14, 0-10)  
TV: ESPNU (Richard Cross and Daymeon Fishback) 
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Bill Koss) 



STAKES (The Setup)  Florida has dropped four of the previous five games, with its current three-game losing skid marked by losses to a pair of teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 5, (No. 1 Tennessee and No. 5 Kentucky), plus a tough road date Auburn. Each of the Gators' last five games have come against teams currently among the top 36 of the NET metrics system that will be used to seed the NCAA Tournament. ... Vanderbilt, searching for its first win in Southeastern Conference play, began the week rated 124th in the NET, but has been in several close games on the way to starting 0-10 in the league, including an overtime home loss to Tennessee the Commodores led by six points inside of 90 seconds left in regulation. ... Vandy is one of UF's permanent home-and-home conference opponents (along with Kentucky and Georgia), with a game at Nashville set for Feb. 27. ... The Commodores lead the all-time series 71-64, including a run of six wins over the last seven games. ... The two teams last met Feb. 17, 2018, when the Gators lost 71-68 at Memorial Gym. In that one, UF blew an 11-point lead in the final 13 minutes, as senior forward James Roberson scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while senior guard and notorious Gator-killer Riley LaChance scored 22 points, including a go-ahead layup after a rare miss off his own free throw inside a minute to go. Florida was led by Keith Stone's 20 points and six rebounds, plus Egor Koulechov's 14 points and seven rebounds. Vandy shot 49 percent in the second half, including 5-for-6 from distance, and went 15 of 16 from the free-throw lin the second half (compared to UF's 1-for-3). The Gators did not score in the final 2:24 of the game. ... Coach Mike White is 1-6 vs. Vanderbilt.
 

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Keyontae Johnson	F	6-5	225	Freshman	6.8 pts / 5.5 reb
Kevarrius Hayes	F	6-9	227	Senior	7.0 pts / 6.2 reb
Noah Locke	G	6-3	205	Freshman	11.6 pts / 2.4 reb
KeVaughn Allen	G	6-2	193	Senior	12.8 pts / 2.7 reb
Andrew Nembhard	PG	6-5	191	Freshman	7.3 pts / 2.7 reb / 5.6 ast

Vanderbilt	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Simisola Shittu	C	6-10	240	Freshman	12.0 pts / 7.0 reb
Matt Ryan	F	6-8	209	R-Junior	9.0 pts / 2.7 reb
Joe Toye	F	6-6	183	Senior	8.7 pts / 3.1 reb
Saben Lee	PG	6-2	183	Sophomore	13.9 pts / 3.5 reb / 3.9 ast
Aaron Nesmith	G	6-6	213	Sophomore	10.3 pts / 5.5 reb

STANDING OUT (One to Watch) 
STUFF (Need-to-Know Info)  ABOUT THE GATORS: This is pretty much now-or-never time. White and the staff have been asking their players for weeks what they wanted to make of this season and they've answered with a run of losses, albeit against some outstanding basketball teams; teams that will compete for championships in March and be in the NCAA Tournament. UF, with eight games to

go, is one win above the .500 mark in mid-February, so the circumstances couldn't be any clearer. Now what? ... After turning the ball over 29 times in its two games last week, Florida is now in negative assist-to-turnover territory in SEC play: 123 assists, 127 turnovers. The UF defense, meanwhile, has allowed the last two opponents (Auburn and Tennessee, both excellent offensive teams) to shoot at least 50 percent after halftime. Tough to erase deficits at intermission, especially for a team that struggeles to score, without getting more stops. ... Guards KeVaughn Allen and Noah Locke have jacked up their offensive numbers in SEC play. Allen is scoring 16.0 points per game against league foes (including 43 percent from the 3-point line), while Locke is at 14.7 per game. ... Point guard Andrew Nembhard played a career-high 38 minutes without a turnover at Tennessee. He now has three games this season when he went turnover-less and eight with one or fewer. ... Center Kevarrius Hayes is a career 58.7-percent free-throw shooter during his four seasons, but he's made 10 of his last 11 over the last two games (.909). ... Forward Keyontae Johnson was saddled with early foul trouble at UT. His 19 minutes were the fewest he'd played in eight games. His ability to stay aggressive and chase rebounds was missed, as well as his new-found willingness to attack the basket. ... Fifth-year senior and backup guard Jalen Hudson (6.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg), for what it's worth, might have had his best all-around practice of the season Monday after equaling his season-high of 15 points in Knoxville. Hudson went 0-for-5 from 3 against the Volunteers, but he bombed in a bunch in live scrimmage action against his teammates Monday. Just sayin'. ... ABOUT THE COMMODORES: They're now in the third season under Coach Bryce Drew, who is 40-49 overall and 16-29 in SEC play since arriving at Vandy for the 2016-17 season by way of his Valparaiso alma mater. Woven in that conference mark is a 4-1 record against the Gators, however, and regardless of what the numbers might say the Commodores, with

their size and offensive complexities, have the potential to give UF fits, if the home team is not prepared and on point. ... Vandy is 1-6 on the road, with the lone victory at Southern California on Nov. 11, the second game of the season. ... Vandy ranks toward the bottom third of the league statistical categories, including points per game (73.6/11th), field-goal percentage (44.0/10th), 3-point percentage (33.8/10th) and rebounding (35.9 pg/10th). The Commodores are one of seven teams in the SEC that have a negative turnover margin (minus-2.0). ... Vandy took a devastating hit five games into the regular season when freshman guard Darius Garland blew out his knee against Kent State and was done for the year -- and his career. Why was Garland's loss so crippling? Well, the son of former NBA player Winston Garland was the state's three-time player of the year, a four-time state champion at Brentwood Academy, where as a senior he averaged 27.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists on his way to being named to the McDonald's All-America team. Garland had 11 assists in the McDonald's game and four games into this freshman season already had a 24-point performance against Winthrop and 33 against Liberty. Then came the Kent State game. Garland eventually withdrew from school to concentrate on his rehab and prepare for the 2019 NBA Draft. ...  Point guard Saben Lee was a Freshman All-SEC selection last season and has taken his game to the next level following the exit of some prominent upperclassmen. He's shooting 47 percent from the floor and above 36 from long distance. ... The Gators recruited guard/forward Aaron Nesmith (42.3 percent floor and 36.3 from 3) very hard and he's showing why in his rookie season. ... Forward Matt Ryan, a transfer from Notre Dame, has hit 35.7 percent of his team-high 140 attempts from the 3-point line. ... Joe Toye is now a starter, but he's made some ill-timed buckets and plays against the Gators the last three seasons. 


STATS (Some Numbers of Note)   * .000 — Combined 3-point shooting percentage against Tennessee by Florida players not named Locke or Allen. 

* .615 — Combined 3-point shooting percentage against Tennessee by Locke and Allen.

* 8 — Points needed by Allen to become the ninth player in UF history to reach the 1,600-point milestone. 

* 327 — Where UF ranks in the KenPom.com statistical metric for "Luck," which measures the degree to which an opponents' winning percentage over- or under-represents their per-possession offensive ratings. Florida, therefore, is the 27th unluckiest team in the country, to date. Take that stat for it's worth, but also know that UF's 2014-15 team (the only Gators' squad to finish with a losing record over the previous 20 seasons) finished Coach Billy Donovan's final year as the fourth unluckiest team in college basketball. 

* 1931 — The first year Florida and Vanderbilt played in basketball. The date was Jan. 17. The Commodores won 42-25 at Nashville.


STATEMENT (Random thought) 

Beware the Commodores. A team that is winless in the league this deep into the season is a dangerous one; especially when facing a middling one that struggles to score.