(AP photo/Phil Sandlin)
No matter what happens here tonight in Columbia between Kentucky and South Carolina, Florida will enter Rupp Arena on Tuesday night no more than one loss behind the Cats in the SEC standings, thanks to the Gators’ 73-65 win over visiting Vanderbilt this afternoon.
Kentucky is a perfect 8-0, pending tonight’s outcome. Florida improved to 7-1 in league play thanks to its 19th straight home win at the O’Connell Center. Vanderbilt dropped its second straight game – the ‘Dores lost at Arkansas on Tuesday – and fell to 5-3.
The reason? Vanderbilt had a terrible time handling the basketball against the Florida press. The veteran Commodores committed eight backcourt turnovers, six in the second half.
And while Vanderbilt missed the front end of two bonus situations in the second half, Florida was a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line in the second half.
Florida led 27-17 in the first half, but Vandy made a 11-5 run before intermission to cut the Gators’ advantage to 37-34. Kevin Stallings’ club then went on a 9-0 run to take a 43-40 lead over the home team with 16:46 left. But it was all Florida after that.
The Gators went on a 12-0 run for a 58-49 lead at the 9:04 mark, then kept hitting free throws down the stretch. Billy Donovan’s club also made 11 three-pointers. Freshman guard Bradley Beal scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half.
Ironically, after complaining about Kentucky not having to play a Thursday-Saturday combination, Stallings and his Commodores, playing on three days rest, lost to a Florida team that beat South Carolina on Thursday.
Another offshoot of today’s game, Vanderbilt will be in a must-win situation next Saturday when Kentucky comes to Memorial Gym for an 9 p.m. ESPN College GameDay special.
Before that, UK entertains Florida plays at 7 p.m. on Tuesday on ESPN. Vanderbilt plays host to LSU on Wednesday.
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