Florida basketball turned up the defense on Saturday afternoon in the O’Connell Center and ran the Vanderbilt Commodores out of the building for a 61-42 win. It was the Gators’ third-straight victory — all against SEC opponents — and helped even their conference record at 3-3 in the waning days of January.
UF has been without star center Colin Castleton for the past two games but it has hardly made much of a difference as the rest of the team has seemingly coalesced in his absence. The emergence of former five-star prospect Kowacie Reeves as a legitimate option on the floor has helped replace the 6-foot-11-inch big man’s production — a trend that hopefully continues after Castleton eventually returns.
While Florida remains shut out of the major polls, the wins have them moving up the NET rankings in recent weeks, climbing up to No. 34 after the Vandy win marking a five-spot improvement since yesterday and a six-spot improvement since our last update after the Mississippi State Bulldogs game.
The Gators continue their rough five-day stretch on Monday with a makeup game on the road against the Ole Miss Rebels followed by a home game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday. If the Orange and Blue can take advantage of a slumping Rebels team and somehow sneak up on the Vols, the NCAA Tournament picture will be looking much better than before.
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