Vanderbilt forward Matthew Moyer did everything he could to stop Deaundrae Ballard.
The Florida guard held the ball with Moyer’s hand right in his face before he swiftly leaned to his right. The move threw the Vanderbilt defender off balance just long enough for Ballard to load up behind the three-point line. He drilled the three with two seconds left on the shot clock with 11:50 remaining in the first half.
Those kinds of plays from Florida’s bench helped the Gators to a 66-57 win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday night.
It wasn’t easy.
Florida’s best shooters, Noah Locke and KeVaughn Allen, combined for just nine points. And Kevarrius Hayes, the Gators’ best defender, spent 27 minutes on the bench.
“Odd that you win a game with your two leading scorers, who have really carried you in league play offensively, going 2 for 19,” coach Mike White said of Locke and Allen.
But this game wasn’t about the top scorers.
It was about the role players on a UF bench that has been outscored by its opponents in four of the last six games.
Here’s a look at how the Gators’ reserves performed against the Commodores:
Senior Guard Jalen Hudson
Jalen Hudson seems to have found a little bit of his game as of late.
He scored 15 against Tennessee, 11 against Kentucky on Feb. 2, and his 10 points against the Commodores led a Florida bench that scored 29 points to Vanderbilt’s seven.
Most of the senior guard’s points came either in the paint or at the free-throw line. He made six of eight from the charity stripe.
Only one other UF player (freshman Keyontae Johnson) scored in double figures (15).
Redshirt freshman forward Isaiah Stokes
Isaiah Stokes saw a bigger role as Hayes was limited by four personal fouls.
Stokes couldn’t completely make up for the energy Hayes usually brings on defense, but the Gators led by as many as 11 in the first half aided by his eight points and two offensive rebounds.
He helped UF hold the advantage in total rebounds (39) and points off turnovers (26), and he was one point away from matching his career high in just nine minutes of playing time.
“It felt good,” Stokes said of his performance. “I just seized my opportunity that I had… I just played. Just play as hard as you can.”
Sophomore forward Dontay Bassett
Dontay Bassett matched the third-most minutes he’s played this season with 18. He didn’t contribute much with his scoring — his only field goal was a mid-range jumper in the first half — but the 6-foot-9 forward gave Florida some size and much-needed physicality on defense with Hayes barely on the court and Stokes the only other player over 6-foot-7.
Bassett helped the Gators hold Vanderbilt to 35.5 percent shooting and 21 percent from three.
Sophomore guards Deaundrae Ballard and Mike Okauru
White said Mike Okauru and Ballard were the best they’ve been in about a month at Monday’s practice.
That showed against the Commodores.
Okauru finished with a season-high five points after being held scoreless in his previous six games.
He collected two rebounds, an assist and a steal in 13 minutes.
Ballard’s only field goal was the three pointer over Moyer early in the first half, and it was the first time in four games he didn’t record multiple turnovers.
Against an SEC team that hadn’t lost its previous 10 conference matchups, Florida’s overall performance might not have been enough to get a win.
It shot just 33.3 percent from the field, and only one of its starters finished in double figures.
But White may find solace in the fact that his bench, which hasn’t been great all year, helped UF scrape by.
“They’ve been challenged daily,” White said of his bench. “And they were very good, got contributions from a lot of guys in a game when we probably needed it the most. So hats off to those guys.”
Follow Alanis Thames on Twitter @alanisthames and contact her at athames@alligator.org.
UF guard Jalen Hudson scored 10 points against Vanderbilt on Wednesday.
