Florida vs Vanderbilt (Tuesday, 7 pm)

No. 6 Florida vs. Vanderbilt

* When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center / Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (18-3, 5-3) / Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4)
* TV: SEC Network (Matthew Schumacker and Richard Hendrix)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
(with Sean Kelley, Chris Harry and Steve Egan)
* Ticket info

Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Alex Condon	F	6-11 / 230	Sophomore	10.4 pts / 8.0 reb
Rueben Chinyelu	C	6-10 / 255	Sophomore	5.2 pts / 7.0 reb
Will Richard	G	6-4 / 206	Senior	13.0 pts / 4.9 reb
Alijah Martin	G	6-2 / 195	Graduate	15.6 pts / 5.0 reb
Walter Clayton Jr.	G	6-2 / 195	Senior	17.4 pts / 3.3 reb / 3.8 ast

Vanderbilt	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Devin McGlockton	G	6-7 / 230	Junior	11.4 pts / 7.9 reb
Tyler Nickel	G	6-7 / 230	Junior	10.2 pts / 2.2 reb
Chris Manon	G	6-5 / 215	Senior	4.8 pts / 3.1 reb
Jason Edwards	G	6-1 / 175	Junior	17.5 pts / 2.2 reb
A.J. Hoggard	G	6-4 / 220	Senior	10.7 pts / 2.6 reb / 4.5 ast

The Breakdown

It's regroup time for the Gators after Saturday's blowout loss at Knoxville.

SETUP: Sixth-ranked Florida and Vanderbilt meet in a Southeastern Conference game between two teams looking to bounce back from smashing defeats Saturday on the road. The Gators, who fell just one spot in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, were bludgeoned at No. 8 Tennessee, 64-44, as the nation's top-rated defense smothered UF's high-scoring offense into just 24.5 percent shooting, including four of 27 from the 3-point line (14.8 percent). The Commodores had a similar experience in their 97-67 wipeout defeat at unranked Oklahoma, where Vandy led by four at halftime, only to be outscored 61-27 in the second half, as the Sooners hot 63 percent for the game and made 11 from the 3-point line.

SERIES: It's tied at 74, with the Commodores claiming three of the previous four after a run of 10 straight for the Gators from 2019 to a win in the 2022 SEC Tournament. UF and Vandy split their two games last season, both holding serve at home. The Gators won 77-64 at Gainesville on Feb. 24, but the Commodores exacted revenge in a most cruel fashion in the March 9 regular-season finale at Nashville. UF led by 10 inside five minutes remaining, but by just three with less than 30 seconds to play. The Gators needed a stop and defensive rebound to secure a big road win. They appeared to get the stop, forcing a miss, but Vandy forward JaQualon Roberts was fouled while positioning for an offensive rebound that led to two free throws with 24 seconds to go to cut the lead to one. Commodores guard Tyrin Lawrence then stole Walter Clayton Jr.'s inbound pass for Riley Kugel and drove for a go-ahead layup to push the Commodores in front 79-78 with 15 seconds to go. UF had one more possession (and plenty of time) to retake the lead. But Clayton, attempting to attack the defense, was stripped of the ball with four seconds remaining for the team's 16th turnover, and Vandy killed the clock from there.

ETC: So much for what was expected to be an historical stretch of four straight regular-season games against ranked opponents. OU's blasting of Vandy took care of that. Now, it'll be three ranked opponents (all on the road) over four games, with No. 1 Auburn, the SEC's lone unbeaten in league play, looming Saturday, followed by next week's road date at No. 22 Mississippi State.

Tale of the Tape

Florida	Statistics	Vanderbilt
83.3	Scoring	81.2
.461	Field-goal percentage	.460
.334	3-point percentage	.330
65.3	Scoring defense	70.9
.379	Field-goal percentage defense	.448
.279	3-point percentage defense	.366
5th	KenPom.com overall ranking	50th
6th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	47th
10th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	73rd
88th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	44th
5th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	43rd
39th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	91st

The Gators

The word their coach used to describe the offensive execution at Tennessee was "atrocious," in what was UF's second-lowest scoring game since the NCAA introduced a shot clock for the 1985-86 season. Florida's averages for points, shooting percentage and 3-pointers were whacked in half. For perspective's sake, however, it helps to understand how good the Volunteers performed on defense in their desparation mode of trying to avoid a third consecutive loss. Remember, just a week earlier, Tennessee went on the road and held top-ranked Auburn, with by far the No. 1 offense in nation, to 31-percent shooting and three of 18 from deep in losing a 53-51 back alley brawl. That's 32 points below the Tigers' per-game average. Sometimes (actually, a lot of times), it's about the opponent. ... UF's sensational guard trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard combined for 18 points on six of 27 shooting, 4-for-19 from the 3-point line and six turnovers. This is a prideful triumvirate, both individually and as a group, so expect these seniors to be at the forefront of a response to the program's worst loss in a couple seasons. ... As for Clayton, his status will be fluid after rolling his ankle late in the first half and trying to play through what was noticeable discomfort during a second half when he did not score and was not moving normally. Golden said Monday Clayton's availability will be a game-time decision. He'll undergo a barrage of treatment in the hours leading up to the game.

Florida's offensive metrics got dinged Saturday, obviously, but the Gators' defensive numbers improved after holding the Volunteers to 64 points, 40 percent for the game and 27 from the 3-point line. UF moved up six spots, from No. 16 in defensive efficiency to No. 10. ... An area the Gators hope to reassert themselves is on the interior, where they were outscored 34-14 in the paint and out-rebounded 40-37, including 12-10 on the offensive glass, where they scored just three second-chance points. UF's starting froncourt of Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu combined for six points on 2-for-8 shooting and nine rebounds. Their length, athleticism and strength should be a significant advantage against a smaller Vandy squad.

The UF bench actually outscored UT's, 20-7, but the Vols only played seven guys in the game. ... Backup sophomore forward Thomas Haugh (7.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) scored six points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. Reserve guard Denzel Aberdeen (7.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg) had eight points. Both players were just 1-for-6 from the floor. Backup forward Sam Alexis (5.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg) had six points in 15 minutes and was one of four Gators with three turnovers. ... UF assistant director of player development Jordan Talley was grad assistant for Byington at JMU from 1920-22.

The Commodores

It's the first season under Mark Byington, who had some really solid seasons at Georgia Southern that got him to James Madison, where he went 82-36 over five seasons, with a 32-4 record and Sun Belt Conference Tournament in 2024, followed by an upset of Wisconsin in first-round tournament play. Now, he's got Vandy off to its best start since 2012 after going 12-1 in non-league play and has wins over Tennessee and Kentucky, both on the home floor. The Commodores are 1-3 on the road in SEC play, including Saturday's tale-of-two halves performance at Oklahoma, where they built a 13-point first half lead and went to the locker room up 40-36, then got flattened by a Sooner State tornado in the second half. Vandy shot 30 percent and went 1-for-12 from deep after the break, while OU hit 24 of 33 shots (72.7 percent), including seven of 12 on long balls, in pummeling the Commodores by 37 in a 61-point second half that included a 23-point scoring run.

Vandy doesn't do a lot of things great on offense, aside from protecting the ball. The Commodores are 17th best nationally at that, turning it over just 14.3 percent of the time, meaning the Gators will have to take advantage of the few live-ball transition opportunities they get. Defensively, the Commodores are aggressive and among the best in the country at forcing turnovers (22.4 percent, nearly a quarter of opponent's possessions). When it comes to the rest of of that end of the floor, Vandy ranks last in SEC play in effective field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage, allowing opponents to stroke at 41.2 percent, as well as next-to-last at guarding the 2-point area, where the Commodores surrender 56.8 percent. UF is going to get some open looks from deep and scoring chances around the paint, something the Gators were not afforded by that other team from the Volunteer State over the weekend.

The Commodores are led by combo guard Jason Edwards, who was a highly coveted transfer out of North Texas, where he scored at 19.1 per game and dropped 39-plus from distance. Edwards had an 11-game stretch where they brought him off the bench and averaged 19.4 points before reworking the lineup when Edwards went scoreless in a home loss to Mississippi State. He had 21 at Oklahoma, but went just 2-for-10 from deep. ... Fifth-year point guard A.J. Hoggard played the previous four seasons at Michigan State, the last two as a starter, so he is a battle-tested dude. He is neither an elite scorer nor shooter (or facilitator, for that matter), just a good solid player who learned how to win under Tom Izzo. He will not get rattled with the ball. ... Devin McGlockton is the closest things the Commodores have to a front-line "big," but he'll give away inches to each of the four frontcourt players the Gators send his way. McGlockton is a skilled and highly efficient post player, sinking nearly 71 percent of his 2-point shots. He'll take his defender to the arc, also, where he's made nealry 40 percent of his 43 attempts. He's made multiple 3s the last three games. ... Wing Tyler Nickel is on his third team in three seasons. He began his career at North Carolina as a freshman, then transferred to Virginia Tech , where he played last season alongside current teammate/starter MJ Collins. He's a three-level scorer (37.8 from deep) who knows how to get to the line and shoots 85 percent there. ... Backup forward Jaylen Carey (son of former Miami Hurricane and NFL standout Vernon Carey) is a load at 6-8, 265. He came with Byington from JMU.

Numbers of Note

Interim UF coach **Don DeVoe** coaching the Gators during the 1989-90 season.

* 0 —Forwards and centers listed on Vandy's roster, according to the school's official athletics site. All 18 members of the team are listed as point guards. Seriously. Whatever advantage that gives the Commodores (competitive or otherwise), can be debated.

* 21 — Points scored by Florida in the first half Saturday at Tennessee, the fewest for the Gators in any half this season.

* 23 — Points scored by Florida in the second half Saturday at Tennessee, the second-fewest by the Gators in a half this season.

* 44 — Points scored by Florida Saturday at Tennessee, the fewest by the Gators in 35 years (read on).

* 1990 — The year the Gators, in the midst of a controversial, NCAA investigation-ravaged 7-21 season under interim Coach Don DeVoe, scored their fewest points in a game during the shot-clock era. The place was Landover, Md. The opponent was fifth-ranked Georgetown. The Hoyas won 56-40 behind double-doubles from both Alonzo Mourning and Dikembo Mutumbo. It's one of just 11 games over the shot-clock era's 39 years that UF has scored fewer than 50 points.

Bottom Line

Leaving the Tennessee debacle in the rear view starts now.

Email Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu

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