NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tyler Tanner scored 20 points and dished out eight assists, Duke Miles scored 15 with seven assists and No. 22 Vanderbilt earned a 91-74 victory over No. 4 Florida on Saturday in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The Commodores advanced to Sunday’s conference final against Ole Miss or Arkansas.
Jalen Washington scored 17 points for the fourth-seed Commodores (26-7), who also got 12 from Devin McGlockton and 11 from AK Okereke.
Thomas Haugh had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Gators (26-7), who saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end. Florida also received 15 points from Boogie Fland, 13 from Alex Condon and 12 from Rueben Chinyelu.
Vanderbilt took a 39-27 lead with 3:29 remaining in the first half and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way. The Commodores shot 54.5% from the floor and 47.6% (20 of 21) from 3-point range.
The Commodores overcame a 38-23 rebounding deficit by scoring 24 points off 14 Gators turnovers.
Okereke hit a 3-pointer to start the half and put Vandy up 50-34 before the Gators’ Condon and Chinyelu each drew their third fouls just over a minute into the second half. Condon picked up a fourth with 16:20 remaining.
Vanderbilt’s Chandler Bing hit a layup as he was crashing to the floor after an Urrban Klavzar shove and completed a three-point play for a 65-46 lead with 11:45 remaining.
On the next possession, Bing took a cross-court pass from Okereke, drove the left baseline and threw down a dunk that put Vandy up 67-46.
Miles drove the lane and kicked it to McGlockton for an open 3-pointer that extended the Commodores’ advantage to 74-51 with 8:19 left.
Florida coach Todd Golden called time out and was subsequently whistled for a technical foul. Miles hit both free throws to make it 76-51.
Vanderbilt’s inside presence of Washington, McGlockton and Jayden Leverett all had four fouls when the latter picked one up with 7:09 remaining.
But the Gators put Vandy in the double bonus with 6:03 left, when Miles hit both free throws to push the lead to 78-56.
Vanderbilt committed a pair of turnovers late that helped Florida cut their deficit to 84-70 inside of the final three minutes before the Commodores put away the victory.
–Chris Lee, Field Level Media
