GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A 12-0 run by Florida to start the second half ultimately doomed Vanderbilt is a 61-42 loss Saturday at the O’Connell Center.
Vandy was outscored 30-14 over the final 20 minutes.
Jordan Wright led Vanderbilt with seven points and also collected seven rebounds.
The Commodores (10-8, 2-4 SEC) remain on the road next week where they’ll face South Carolina (10-7, 1-4 SEC) at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday.
Vandy fell behind early Saturday after a CJ Felder 3-pointer from the left corner made it 9-4. Tyree Appleby’s triple from the right wing gave the Gators a 15-7 lead moments later.
Shane Dezonie buried a 3 at the 7:27 mark to cut the Vandy deficit to 20-13. Florida then went through a cold spell of its own and saw its lead shrink to 23-19 on Quentin Millora-Brown’s hook from the right block.
The Gators stretched the margin to 31-24, but Vanderbilt got a bucket from Drew Weikert and then a Wright steal and layup just before the first-half buzzer to go into the locker down just 31-28.
Florida started the second half with that pivotal 12-0 run over the first four minutes to take a commanding 43-28 lead. Vanderbilt shot 1-for-10 from the field over the first eight minutes while the Gators eventually built an 18-point lead at one point.
Vanderbilt could never recover.
Appleby scored 11 to pace the Gators (12-6, 3-3 SEC). Florida finished with 16 offensive rebounds.
- Pippen Jr. (1,166) is still 38th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list. Billy Joe Adcock (1,190) is 37th.
- Vanderbilt is now 71-72 in the all-time series against Florida and has lost eight in a row in the series.
- Vandy’s last win against Florida was Feb. 17, 2018, and its last win in Gainesville was Jan. 21, 2017.
- The Commodores are now 3-7 this season when trailing at halftime and 1-7 when shooting less than 40 percent from the field.
- Trey Thomas has played in 43 straight games for the Commodores.
- Wright has started 33 straight games for Vanderbilt.
