Tag: Vanderbilt Commodores

PHOTOS: LSU men’s basketball’s hot streak extends with road win over Vanderbilt

LSU withstood multiple Vanderbilt rallies to get back to .500 in SEC play on Saturday.

While an NCAA tournament bid likely isn’t in the cards barring an SEC tournament title, coach Matt McMahon’s LSU men’s basketball team is ending the regular season with quite a bit of momentum.

After a 75-61 win against Vanderbilt on the road on Saturday, the Tigers moved to 16-13 (8-8 SEC) and have now won four of their last five games

LSU jumped out to an early lead on the Commodores and led by 20 at the half. Though it had to fend off multiple rallies in the second half, the Tigers ultimately cruised to a relatively easy win.

Now, with two games to go, LSU will hit the road as it goes for a season sweep against Arkansas. In the meantime, here are the photos from Saturday’s win over Vandy.

Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball cruises to road win against Vanderbilt

The Tigers have now won four of their last five and are ending the regular season with a lot of momentum.

The LSU men’s basketball team stayed hot on Saturday on the road against a struggling Vanderbilt team, winning 75-61 to move to 16-13 on the season and get back to .500 in SEC play at 8-8.

With the victory, the Tigers have now won four of their last five.

Despite playing on the road, LSU took control of the game early. It quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and that trend continued throughout the first half.

The Tigers led by as much as 21 in the frame and took a commanding 42-22 lead to the locker room as [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] combined for 19 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Commodores opened the second half on a 14-7 run and cut the lead to 13, but they couldn’t keep the momentum on their side as LSU stretched its lead once again.

Another Vandy run cut the lead to 10, but it never got within single digits as the Tigers withstood the rally to hang on for a much-needed road win.

Wright ultimately led the team with 15 points, while Ward and [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] scored 10. LSU relied heavily on its bench, which provided 34 points led by Jalen Reed’s 13.

With two remaining games in the regular season, LSU’s next game will come on the road as it looks for a season sweep against Arkansas on Wednesday night.

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Trio of Gators discuss Vanderbilt home win on Saturday

Walter Clayton Jr., Tyrese Samuel and Will Richard spoke to the press following Saturday’s win.

The Vanderbilt Commodores paid a visit to the O’Connell Center on Saturday afternoon for a tangle with the Florida Gators as the Southeastern Conference schedule continues. Favored heavily coming into the game, Todd Golden’s team had little trouble handling their visitors, resulting in a 77-64 win.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] paced the Orange and Blue with 21 points along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. (19) and [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] (15) were the others to crack the double-digit barrier.

The trio met up with the press scrum after the game to give their respective takes on Saturday’s win. Take a look below at what they had to say.

Five takeaways from Florida’s double-digit home win over Vanderbilt

Take a look at what Pat Dooley thinks of Florida’s comfortable home win over Vandy.

If I had told you when you woke up Saturday morning that Zyon Pullin — who came into the game with 23 straight double-figure scoring games — would score two points, you would have been concerned.

If I had told you starting center Micah Handlogten would not score and would foul out, you would have been worried.

Or that Riley Kugel would only score two points and the Gators would lose the rebounding battle?

Relax, sports fans. Saturday showed the depth of this team as Florida beat Vanderbilt 77-64.

That’s eight wins in the last 10 games for the Gators as they improved their record to 19-8 and 9-5 in the SEC.

The five takeaways from the game on a beautiful Gainesville Saturday.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s win over Vanderbilt

Get a gander at the best of Saturday afternoon’s Gators basketball action.

Florida basketball had little trouble handling the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday afternoon inside the O’Connell Center, defeating their Southeastern Conference foes, 77-64, to rebound from its loss last Wednesday.

The Gators controlled this one the entire way, going wire-to-wire from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer. Will Richard paced the Orange and Blue with 21 points along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Walter Clayton Jr. (19) and Tyrese Samuel (15) were the others to crack the double-digit barrier.

Vanderbilt also had three players finishing with double digits in scoring but simply did not have enough for the red-hot Gators on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville.

Take a look at highlights from Florida’s easy home win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday below. More photos will be added as they become available.

Everything Todd Golden had to say ahead of home stand against Vanderbilt

Check out what Todd Golden had to say ahead of Florida’s return home on Saturday afternoon.

The Florida Gators basketball program is set to host a sold out crowd in Exactech Arena on Saturday afternoon, as they welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores for a matinee in the Swamp.

The Orange and Blue have won their last seven of nine contests, most recently falling to the Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime on Wednesday. Despite the loss, UF head coach Todd Golden still thinks his team is right where it needs to be from a production standpoint.

Golden spoke with the media on Friday to give more takeaways from the loss in Tuscaloosa and shared what he sees in Vanderbilt’s starting lineup. Florida was also updated on the suspension of Alabama forward Mohamed Wauge.

Here’s what Golden had to share with the media ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

Florida basketball overwhelmingly favored by BPI over Vanderbilt

It’s not one of the more heralded matchups of the day but it’s one the Gator Nation can look forward to.

Florida basketball has won seven of its last nine and despite its overtime road loss at the Alabama Crimson Tide Wednesday night, the team is still clicking as the season winds down. Next up, the Gators welcome the lowly Vanderbilt Commodores to the O’Connell Center.

Using the Basketball Power Index, ESPN is giving the Florida Gators 97.0% win probability and projects them to come out on top by 22.8 points over the Commodores. The matchup quality earned a 59.6-point grade, putting it at No. 43 among the games being played on Saturday afternoon.

“BPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward,” the site reads. “BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is… Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections.”

The game will be of the Quadrant 4 variety for Florida, which enters the matchup ranked No. 30 in the NET, while Vandy is playing a Quad 1 game ranked No. 230 coming in.

The Gators host the Commodores inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Game Preview: Florida returns to home to host Vanderbilt Commodores

Take a look at the key players and more for the Florida Gators basketball matchup with Vanderbilt.

There are only five games left in the regular season for Florida basketball, and after a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Orange and Blue are returning to the Swamp to host the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Exactech Arena is listed as sold out for Saturday afternoon’s contest and the Gators will lean on the Rowdy Reptiles so they can collect its fifth consecutive home win. Florida has played comfortably in the O’Dome this season, holding an 11-1 record when the home crowd is watching their back.

Saturday will be the first of two meetings between the Gators and Commodores, with the second matchup slated as the final game of the regular season on March 9. Let’s take a look at how the squads will line up at tipoff.

Florida’s stellar week, Vandy defends at Watersound among highlights from last week of college golf

It was a stellar week.

The best college golf week of the spring thus far has come and gone.

Most of the top men’s and women’s teams were in action from across the country, and there were multiple tournaments with loaded fields from Hawaii to Florida and everywhere in between.

Teams continue to jockey for position to get into NCAA Regional play, with some men’s teams having work to do to even make the postseason because of the .500 rule. Meanwhile, plenty of individuals are making strong cases as to why they should win the Haskins or Annika Awards.

All in all, it was a stellar week.

MORE: College golf practice facilities

Here’s what you need to know from the past week of college golf.

Watch: Highlights from the Texas A&M Womens lost to Vanderbilt

Watch the best plays from the Aggies’ game against Vanderbilt on Thursday night

Texas A&M battled back to take a lead late in the fourth quarter but ultimately fell 49-45 to Vanderbilt at home. In a game where points were hard to come by in the absence of the leading scorer Endyia Rogers was sorely missed.

Both teams are hovering around the .500 mark in SEC play, and both needed this win to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament at the end of the season. The game turned out to be a defensive battle, but they once again fell victim to numerous turnovers late in the game.

“They were unforced, rushed. We’ve got to manage the game better at that point. We didn’t connect on some fast break opportunities. We also have to know when to pull it out and make them guard us. We had done a good job of taking the lead and we were running some stuff that they had struggled in the fourth quarter to defend and then we just turned it over. Then they went on a 10-0 run to finish the game.”

Going forward they will need to find some offense with Rogers out and the turnovers will need to drop drastically in key situations. Below you can see some of the best plays from the game.