NASHVILLE — Fourth-ranked Florida and No. 22 Vanderbilt will renew acquaintances on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The contest will serve as a rematch of one of the league’s better regular-season games.
The Gators knocked off the Commodores 98-94 on Jan. 17 in a game played on Vanderbilt’s campus, about two miles from downtown Nashville. Thomas Haugh recorded 18 points and eight rebounds for the Gators, who claimed a 40-26 advantage in rebounding.
That’s a familiar theme for fourth-seeded Vanderbilt (25-7), which was outrebounded 46-34 by fifth-seeded Tennessee in the SEC quarterfinals on Friday. The Commodores overcame that because guards Duke Miles (30 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals) and Tyler Tanner (19 points, six rebounds, four assists) were brilliant in that 75-68 triumph.
Top-seeded Florida (26-6), which has won 12 straight games, was challenged late in a 71-63, wire-to-wire win over ninth-seeded Kentucky on Friday.
Alex Condon collected 22 points and 10 rebounds and Xaivian Lee recorded 11 points and six assists for the Gators.
The Florida-Vanderbilt winner will face either third-seeded Arkansas or 15th-seeded in the SEC final on Sunday.
Several teams have had issues shooting in the spacious Bridgestone Arena. Vanderbilt missed its first nine 3-pointers on Friday and Florida finished 3 of 20, although Lee hit a big one in the final minute to seal the win.
“I think we were a little rusty,” Gators coach Todd Golden said. “First time we shot in here was (Friday). It takes a little bit to get comfortable back in the venue. I thought we missed some really good looks. We’ll go back, watch film. Out of our 17 misses, I would imagine 10 of those were open and uncontested.”
Lee made three 3-pointers and finished with 20 points in the first encounter vs. Vanderbilt.
However, Lee had three of the Gators’ 18 turnovers on Friday. Vanderbilt won the turnover battle 10-4 in the first matchup, and Tanner (19.2 points per game, 2.4 steals) and Miles (16.5, 2.6) form one of the country’s best backcourts.
Miles’ play on Friday changed the game for Vanderbilt. The senior missed six games in the middle of conference play after a knee procedure and hadn’t scored more than 16 points in his five games heading into Friday’s action.
“Duke, he started looking like himself, I think, last week, rhythm-wise and pace,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “The ball in his hands was a comfort to everybody. He had a great pace to his game, making decisions. He can make passes and score. He started right away, got a layup for us right away, just the entire game, big shots, big moments.”
Vanderbilt struggles with size and foul trouble, and foul-prone big men Jalen Washington (8.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Devin McGlockton (9.7, 6.8) and AK Okereke (9.8, 3.5) will have their hands full with perhaps the country’s biggest, deepest front court.
That begins with three starters — SEC Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu (11.1, 11.7), Condon (15.0, 7.7) and Haugh (17.0, 6.1) — and extends to top front-court reserve Micah Handlogten (4.2, 6.0).
–Chris Lee, Field Level Media
