Gators fall to Vanderbilt, exit SEC Tournament in semifinals

With 8:59 left in the first half, it all started to go south for the Gators. 

Vanderbilt’s Duke Miles capitalized on a chance for a four-point play, with Micah Handlogten fouling on a made 3-pointer. 

As Florida looked to rebound with its next possession, now down 21-14, an offensive foul called on Alex Condon gave the Commodores another opportunity to extend their lead, and they took full advantage of it. Jalen Washington knocked down a jumper on the other end, and Devin McGlockton followed it up, draining a triple to give Vanderbilt a 10-point lead, its then-largest of the contest. 

From there, the Commodores kept rolling, and Florida could not catch up. 

The Gators (26-7) fell to Vanderbilt (26-7) 91-74 on Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, curbing their hopes of repeating as Southeastern Conference champions. Strong 3-point shooting from the Commodores, coupled with the Gators’ own offensive struggles, led to Florida’s ultimate collapse. 

"They're just too good of a team to play that way and expect to win," head coach Todd Golden said. 

Vanderbilt’s dominance was evident early on. The Commodores ended the first half with a 13-point lead. In the surge, they shot 52% from the field and 46.2% from 3-point range. 

"They have a great offensive team," junior Thomas Haugh said. "We didn't have a good defensive effort out there today."

Meanwhile, Florida struggled immensely on the other end. The Gators were shooting just 36.7% from the field and 25% from deep at the break. Of their 34 first-half points, 10 were from the stripe with both teams in the bonus.

What persisted most for Florida was its struggles from deep. Against Kentucky, the Gators shot just 15% from beyond the arc, and the matchup with Vanderbilt proved a similar story. They managed to get a couple to fall in the back half of the game but went 5-for-17 from 3-point range. 

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt was firing from deep. It shot 47.6% from deep on 10-of-21 shooting and 54.5% from the field.

Florida also struggled with the Commodores’ physicality. Vanderbilt’s defensive pressure and outmuscling down low forced nine Gator turnovers in the first half, and 14 on the game. Meanwhile, the Commodores committed just two turnovers in the first half and eight throughout the contest. 

"The physicality that they played with bothered us," Golden said. "We usually do that to other teams."

There was one Commodore in particular that Florida struggled to contain defensively. Sophomore guard Tyler Tanner entered Saturday’s game as Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points per game. Saturday afternoon was no different. He came out firing, scoring seven of the team’s first 10 points. He ended the contest with 20 points and eight assists.

But it was the Commodores’ balanced scoring effort that made them so hard to stop. Vanderbilt had five players in double figures. Washington put up 17 points, and Miles followed with 15 while McGlockton and AK Okereke put up 12 and 11 points, respectively. 

Florida had four players in double figures. 

Haugh led the team with 19 points and 9 rebounds. 

After recording a double-double in Friday’s game, junior forward Alex Condon struggled to make the same impact. He had five turnovers and was forced to sit for a stretch in the second half with four fouls, but put up 13 points and had seven rebounds. 

Rueben Chinyelu and Boogie Fland put up 12 and 15 points, respectively. Chinyelu added six rebounds, but picked up four fouls in the contest. 

After his game-clinching 3-pointer against Kentucky, Xaivian Lee struggled to make an impact in Saturday’s contest. He was the only starter not in double figures, with seven points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.  

With their SEC Tournament run over, the Gators await their NCAA Tournament slate on Selection Sunday, starting at 6 p.m. ET.

Contact Ava DiCecca at adicecca@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @avadicecca24.

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