NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After an abrupt exit from the SEC Tournament, Florida will enter March Madness as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators will play No. 13-seed East Tennessee State (27-7) on Thursday in Orlando. The Buccaneers are coming off a Southern Conference Championship and have won nine of their last 10 games.
Meanwhile, Florida heads into the tournament having lost back-to-back games to Vanderbilt, including a 72-62 overtime loss that bounced the Gators from the SEC Tournament in their first game.
Having lost three of their last four games, guards Kasey Hill and KeVaughn Allen were asked if the team has lost momentum.
Allen deflected.
Hill said no.
“I don’t think we lost momentum,” Hill said. “We got to get back to practicing and get better in practice.”
That wasn’t White’s opinion.
“I disagree with my guys. We obviously have lost momentum,” White said.
UF’s one-and-done performance in Nashville in the SEC Tournament likely cost the Gators the No. 3 seed they were projected to earn earlier in the season.
The loss to Vanderbilt marked the fifth straight time UF’s fallen to the Commodores in the last two years.
After building an early lead in Friday’s game, Florida’s communication on defense dissipated as Vanderbilt took a halftime lead.
But after the Commodores pulled away, the Gators nearly pulled off the comeback, erasing an 8-point Vanderbilt lead in a little over 90 seconds in the final minutes.
When the game was tied with 9.7 seconds in regulation, UF coach Mike White gave the ball to Hill.
“We’re hoping obviously that we could get to the rim, finish or get fouled with a couple shooters in the corners,” White said.
But in heavy traffic, Hill’s layup missed left.
The Commodores kicked off overtime with a 10-1 run and for the third time in one season, Vanderbilt (19-15) overtook Florida (24-8).
“When you go 0-3 against somebody, you wrack your brain,” White said. “I’ll be wracking my brain here until Sunday night. Should we have done this? Could we have tried this or that?”
Vanderbilt remains the only SEC team White hasn’t beat since becoming Florida’s coach.
The second-year coach admitted Florida doesn’t look like a confident team.
“I think we’ve been in that place at times this year,” White said. “We’re not in that place right now.”
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
UF head coach Mike White looks on during Florida's 72-62 loss to Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference Tournament on March 10, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee.
