Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball fans went through an emotional rollercoaster this past Saturday watching their team play in Oklahoma. After getting off to a hot start and leading by as much as 13 in the first half, the Commodores went ice cold while the Sooners struck gold from downtown en route to a blowout loss. As a result, Vanderbilt fell out of the AP poll after making its debut in the rankings at No. 24 just last week.
Florida finds itself in a similar situation after a blowout loss to Tennessee on the road. The Gators shot just 24.5% from the field as a collective and knocked down just four 3-pointers out of 27 attempts (14.8%). Nevertheless, Florida remained toward the top of the rankings due to its overwhelming success of the season, coming in at No. 6 in this week’s poll. Vanderbilt will have its hands full once again facing off against its fourth top-10 opponent in five games, so let’s take an in-depth look at some of the keys to this game.
A tale of two defenses
Vanderbilt and Florida are on completely different sides of the spectrum when it comes to guarding the 3-point shot. The Gators are one of the nation’s premier defenses in limiting beyond-the-arc buckets, holding opponents to just 27.9% from deep. This puts them behind only Tennessee and ranks them second in the SEC and second in the nation in this statistic. Florida also has a plus-5.5% differential in 3-point conversion rate over its opponents, emphasizing its ability to shoot the lights out while limiting its competitors’ success.
Vanderbilt, on the other hand, ranks last in the SEC — and toward the bottom of the country — in opponent 3-point percentage allowed at 36.6%. Its minus-3.6% differential places it at 15th in the SEC, showcasing its inability to overcome a poor shooting night, which has become clear through several losses this season. If the ‘Dores want a chance to upset the Gators in The Swamp, they will need to step up their 3-point efficiency to weather Florida’s defensive storm.
Crash the glass or pay the price
Rebounds. Rebounds. Rebounds.
Vanderbilt’s biggest weakness going into the season was — and arguably still is — its lack of size. And while Devin McGlockton and Jaylen Carey, both undersized, have stepped up in the spotlight of playing “center,” the team is still deficient in the rebounding department. The Commodores’ 34.9 boards per game place them at 14th in the SEC and in the bottom half of all college basketball teams. They only record 23.3 defensive rebounds per contest (last in the SEC), further highlighting their lack of size.
Florida, alternatively, does not lack in size, as the forward-center duo of Alex Condon and Rueben Chinelyu stand tall at 6’11 and 6’10, respectively. The frontcourt pair collectively brings in 15 rebounds per game, and the Gators, as a team, collect 43.9 RPG. This tally places them second in the SEC and third in the country. No less, a rebounding differential of plus-10.0 ranks first in the conference, compared to Vanderbilt’s mere plus-0.3, which ranks 14th out of 16 teams. The Commodores will have to go up and crash the glass more often than they have been so far this season to beat Florida.
Backcourt battle
While the backcourt is technically made up of only two players, Florida has a three-headed monster of guards in Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard. Following an excellent junior season, Clayton has impressed yet again through his senior campaign and even worked his way into the conversation for SEC Player of the Year honors. Martin, a fifth-year transfer from FAU, is an electric athlete and skilled scorer who complements Clayton well. Richard, also a senior, has taken a jump this season, particularly on the defensive end, racking up 2 steals per game. Clayton (17.4 PPG), Martin (15.6 PPG) and Richard (13.0 PPG) combine for 46 of Florida’s 83.3 points per game — 55.2% of the team’s total.
Vanderbilt, in theory, matches up well with its own three-headed monster of defensive guards, though they don’t exactly fill up the stat sheet to the extent of the Gators’ trio. The Commodores’ threesome of AJ Hoggard, Tyler Tanner and Chris Mañon — along with MJ Collins Jr. and Grant Huffman in relief — have established an identity on West End. While Florida’s scoring attack will be a challenge to slow down, the ‘Dores have the necessary personnel to do so.
Vanderbilt has to shoot well enough to overcome Florida’s lockdown perimeter defense. The Commodores must bring intensity on the glass and come down with rebounds at a higher rate than in previous games. The guards in the Black and Gold need to stay locked in on defense and lock down their matchups. If it can succeed in these three areas, Vanderbilt has the keys to pull off yet another massive upset to add to its resume.
The Commodores will match up against No. 6 Florida at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. CST.
