Feb. 17, 2018
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When the final buzzer sounded on Saturday, the eruption from a sea of fans at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium hit Commodores’ coach Bryce Drew like a ton of bricks.
“The coaches looked at each other after the game and said, ‘Well, that was a lot of fun,'” Drew said.
What’s not to like about this? As rain fell across Nashville, a euphoric crowd of 10,306 black and gold faithful ignited Memorial Gym in the aftermath of Vanderbilt’s 71-68 victory over Florida. The win was the Dores’ latest entry into the program’s recent resurgence of Memorial Magic. Dating back to a 77-71 win over LSU on Jan. 20, Vandy has now won five straight games in Memorial Gym and three of its last four overall — each seemingly bigger than the last.
For the first time all season, momentum has the Commodores playing their best basketball and eyeing an SEC shakeup ahead of the conference tournament.
“Hopefully,” Drew said, “this gives our guys confidence that we can play with anybody.”
Vanderbilt’s victory felt less certain midway through Saturday’s matchup. The Dores trailed 34-28 at halftime and had as many turnovers (nine) as field goals. Florida then kept its foot on the gas in the second half, building an 11-point lead with 15:00 to play after a 3-pointer from Igor Koulechov.
But the Commodores weren’t done. Senior Jeff Roberson knocked down a pair of free throws with 5:49 to play to cap an 8-0 Vanderbilt run and slice into Florida’s lead, 60-59. Later, fellow senior Riley LaChance drilled a trey with 5:01 left to knot things up, 62-62.
The Dores took the lead for good on a clutch LaChance layup at 1:48 to push Vanderbilt ahead, 69-68. Two Joe Toye free throws padded Vandy’s cushion, all while Florida clanked its final four shots of the game.
“Credit Vandy,” said Gators head coach Mike White, who dropped to 1-6 vs. Vanderbilt at Florida. “[Matthew] Fisher-Davis goes down, and they’re playing as well as anybody all year.”
“There’s definitely an unbelievable feeling in the gym… it doesn’t do it any justice until you’re actually in the building and you feel the atmosphere.” – Coach Drew #MemorialMagic pic.twitter.com/1MweS4ONlD
 Vandy MBB (@VandyMBB) February 18, 2018
Chalk it up to another dose of Memorial Magic.
“When the crowd gets into it, great things happen,” Roberson said. “It’s hard for anybody to play here.”
The atmosphere at Memorial Gym helped carry the Commodores, particularly in the second half. Vanderbilt committed just two turnovers, hit six 3-pointers and scored 43 points in the final 20 minutes. The Dores also made the Gators pay at the free-throw line, connecting on 22-of-24 attempts.
Drew said Vanderbilt’s home atmosphere was as electric as it’s been all year.
“Our crowd is spectacular,” Drew said. “They’re very knowledgeable, they know when to cheer and not to cheer and when our team needs it. There’s no question our players feed off of that.”
Now Vanderbilt hopes to channel its momentum into a hot finish to the regular season. The Dores travel to LSU on Tuesday (8 p.m. CT SEC Network) before hosting Texas A&M and Missouri for their final home games. They then close the regular season with a trip to Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt has a chance to play its way out of the first round of the SEC tournament, which takes place March 7-11 in St. Louis. Entering Saturday, the SEC’s bottom eight teams boasted conference records between 6-7 and 4-9. Vandy could easily shake things up with four regular-season games remaining.
In December, that notion seemed outlandish. But these Commodores are starting to believe.
“I think we’re building a lot of confidence right now,” Toye said. “Everybody’s stepping up. We’re all confident in each other, and the coaches are confident, as well.”
Zac Ellis is the Writer and Digital Media Editor for Vanderbilt Athletics.