Florida might have lost a lot from last season’s national championship run, but the Gators continued to remind the college basketball world on Saturday afternoon that they have plenty left for another big push.
That push within the SEC was on full display in Nashville, where No. 19 Florida pulled out a 98-94 victory over No. 10 Vanderbilt to win its 4th conference game in a row. That loss at Mizzou to begin SEC play seems like ancient history now, with the Gators improving to 13-5 overall to go with a 4-1 SEC mark.
Winning at Memorial Gym in the middle of January is no small feat, especially against a Vanderbilt team that began the week undefeated. But the Commodores lost at Texas on Wednesday night, and then came home and got stung by the Gators to fall to 16-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC.
Rueben Chinyelu scored 16 of his team-leading 20 points in the 2nd half for the Gators, adding 10 rebounds and 3 assists. He was literally perfect in those final 20 minutes, going 5 for 5 from the field and 6 for 6 from the free throw line as Florida overcame a 45-44 halftime deficit. Xaivian Lee also had 20 points for UF, knocking down 3 3-pointers.
Thomas Haugh added 18 points while Alex Condon scored 16 for Florida, with both players ripping down 8 rebounds to help the Gators to their 8th win in 9 games.
But it was Lee who came to the rescue late for UF, knocking down a go-ahead 3-pointer that gave the Gators a 95-94 lead with 43.9 seconds left. Not only did Florida never trail again, Vandy never scored again, as the Gators served notice to the rest of the SEC that, just maybe, they are ready to make another big run.
Florida will look at make it 5 in a row in the SEC on Tuesday night, when it hosts LSU in a 7 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN2.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
