Florida Gators

What Happened

Vanderbilt guard Tyrin Lawrence stole an inbound pass and drove for the go-ahead layup with 15.5 seconds left and Florida -- again -- turned the ball over on its final possession, as the Commodores dealt the visiting Gators a 79-78 loss in their Southeastern Conference regular-season finale Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. UF led by three, 78-75, after two Zyon Pullin free throws with 35 seconds left. At Vandy's end, the Gators forced a miss by forward Ven-Allen Lubin, but teammate Jaqualon Roberts was fouled while crashing the glass by Florida forward Tyrese Samuel. Roberts made both free throws to close within one and Vandy set up its full-court press. UF guard Walter Clayton Jr. ran the baseline and tried to force a pass to Riley Kugel, but Lawrence stepped in front of the play, wheeled around, sized up the court and and then attacked for the game-winning play. The Gators had a chance to win it at the end, but Clayton took the side-out-of-bounds pass heading downhill for the lane, dribbled the ball off his foot, gathered it in time to try and pitch it to a teammate but the final horn sounded. The Commodores were led by Lubin, who equaled his career high of 25 points, went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and cleared 11 rebounds. Lawrence finished with 14 points.
Roberts had seven points and seven rebounds, all on the offensive end. Florida got a complete game from Pullin, who tallied 20 points, five rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover in 37 minutes. The Gators, however, undermined themselves by surrendering an astounding 20 offensive rebounds against one of the league's worst rebounding teams and by getting outscored 21-6 in second-chance points. They also turned the ball over 16 times leading to 19 Vanderbilt points. All the miscues made UF's 51.7-percent shooting for the game and 35.5 percent defense moot. Florida also was just 5-for-17 from the 3-point line, including 0-for-3 in the second half. The Commodores, who trailed by a dozen in the first half and erased an eight-point deficit with just over five minutes remaining, sank 19 of 20 free throws for the game and made four of their last five field-goal attempts to eek out just their fourth SEC victory of the season.    

What it Means

The first so-called "bad loss" of the season. UF began the day with a 7-9 record in Quadrant 1 and 2 games and a perfect 14-0 in Q 3 and 4 games. This is a Q3 stain on the resume.  Vanderbilt, which finished the regular season at 9-22 and just 4-14 in conference play, was 216th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool coming in versus Florida at No. 27. The loss could penalize the Gators as much as a whole seeding line relative to the NCAA Tournament. They can also right this wrong in the SEC Tournament next week. 
 

In the Spotlight

Lubin, the 6-foot-8, 230-pounder, attended Orlando Christian Prep and played last season at Notre Dame. Clearly, he could play for several in-state Division I schools as well. It was his ninth double-figure scoring game in the last 10 outings. 
 

Staggering Statistic

Vandy's utter domination on the offensive glass (Repeat: 20) should be a red flag for the Gators. Equally troubling were those measly six rebounds on the offensive end for a UF team that came into the game ranked No. 3 nationally in that category. If Florida doesn't rebound to its season-long numbers, what was once considered an overwhelming strength makes the Gators extremely vulnerable in the postseason. 
 

Up Next

Florida (21-10, 11-7) will be the No. 6 at the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Gators will have a bye into Thursday's second round when they'll likely face either Georgia (16-14, 6-11) or Missouri (8-22, 0-17), who will play in Wednesday's bottom-four opening round. Both UGA and Mizzou wrap their regular seasons later Saturday night (the Bulldogs at No. 11 Auburn; the Tigers at LSU).