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Vanderbilt Upsets Florida 86-72 1/17/2004
Vanderbilt Upsets Florida 86-72 No. 23 Vanderbilt (13-2, 2-2) hit 10 of 15 three pointers in defeating No. 10 Florida (11-3, 2-1) 86-72 Saturday night in Memorial Gym. In front of a rowdy 14,168, the Commodores were led by the trio of Matt Freije, Mario Moore, and Corey Smith who combined for 58 points and nine threes. Trailing by one at the break, the ‘Dores stood toe to toe through the first five minutes of the second half. The game became emotional after Florida guard Matt Walsh was called for an intentional foul on Smith during a fastbreak dunk attempt. Walsh and Smith then traded buckets with one another as each of them scored their teams’ next six points with Smith’s being off two threes. Smith finished the game with 14 points, six assists, and three steals. Just as hot as Smith was for VU, so was Moore. Moore, who had only three points in the first half, sparked the second half rally. Moore had an incredible stretch where he buried three treys in two minutes to extend the Commodore lead to 18 points with five minutes left to play. Moore scored 21 points and connected on five of six three pointers. “When I came to the gym today, I was ready to play,” said Smith. “The fouls just added to the fire. I got really upset after the fouls, and it’s proper etiquette that when you commit a foul, to help someone up. The way he walked off, I took it personally. I wanted to let him know I wasn’t going to take that. So, I went out and played as hard as I could.” Vanderbilt’s offense, which struggled the two previous games, caught lightening in a bottle. VU shot 52 percent from the field and 66 percent from three point range. The 86 points was the most Florida had allowed all year. The VU defense also stepped up by forcing the Gators into a season high 24 turnovers. Freije, SEC Preseason Player of the Year, got is game back. After a couple sub-par games, Freije got on track early and poured in 15 first half points. The most dramatic bucket came during a VU 11-0 run when Freije drained a three while being fouled and converted the four-point-play. Freije had 23 points, two threes, and five rebounds for the evening to lead all scorers. The game began with Vanderbilt attacking the rim and not settling for jumpshots. The first shot attempted from behind the three point line for VU wasn’t until 10 minutes into the game. Vanderbilt built a nine point lead in the first half, but Florida used a 12-2 run to close out the half and head to the locker rooms leading 32-31. Florida had four players score in double figures. Walsh led the Gators with 16 points, followed by David Lee with 15, Anthony Roberson with 13, and Chris Richard with 12. Perhaps the story of the game was the crowd. Commodore fans came out of the woodwork and filled Memorial Gym to its capacity. Not only were the fans in the gym, but they were into the game and on their feet on every possession. After the intentional foul on Walsh, a deafening roar of boos came out every time Walsh touched the ball. “Well, that was a great game,” said Head Coach Kevin Stallings. “What an unbelievable atmosphere. The crowd was unbelievable — that was the best crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been here, and the guys played like they appreciated it.”
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