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In Must-Win Game, Florida Loses To No. 13 Vanderbilt At Home
Gainesville, FL (Sports Network) - John Jenkins tied a career high with six three-pointers and finished with 18 points, as 13th-ranked Vanderbilt held on for a 64-60 win over SEC rival Florida at the O'Connell Center.
A.J. Ogilvy chipped in with 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals, while Jermaine Beal finished with 13 points and six assists for Vanderbilt (23-6, 12-3 SEC), which has won three straight and six of the last seven overall.
Vanderbilt is still within striking distance of the SEC regular season title as it trails only Kentucky, which has a 12-2 record. Vanderbilt has one game left on Saturday against South Carolina while Kentucky has a road game at Georgia on Wednesday and a home game against Florida on Sunday. Kentucky won both games against Vanderbilt this season.
Vernon Macklin led all scorers with 21 points to go along with nine rebounds and Alex Tyus had nine points and nine boards for Florida (20-10, 9-6), which had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 78-76 loss to Georgia on Saturday.
Vanderbilt led 38-35 at the break and maintained the lead until Erving Walker’s two free throws finished off a 16-4 run to put the Gators in front 55-50 with 8:26 left in the game.
Macklin’s two from the stripe with 4:02 to play kept Florida ahead by two, 59-57, before Jenkins’ trey gave the Commodores a one-point lead. Macklin then tied it at 60-all with 1-of-2 from the line with 2:47 left.
However, Ogilvy put back off his own miss to give Vandy a 62-60 lead with 2:24 on the clock and it never looked back. Both teams had difficulty scoring in the remaining time and Beal’s turnover with 24 ticks left gave the Gators a chance. Boynton’s three, though was off the mark with 10 seconds remaining and Beal was fouled and iced the game with two makes from the stripe.
Jenkins hit a three-pointer to put Vanderbilt up 20-8 in the early going and the Commodores maintained a double-digit lead until Macklin’s jumper cut the Florida deficit to eight, 29-21, with nearly five minutes remaining in the opening half.
Vanderbilt quickly restored a double-figure edge, but Ray Shipman's jumper and trey in the closing minute helped the Gators finish out the stanza on an 8-0 run and make it a 38-35 game at the break.
Vanderbilt knocked off Florida in a 95-87 final back in January, and the Commodores now hold a 63-56 edge in the all-time series between the two teams...Vanderbilt finished 42.9 percent from the field and made 10-of-20 from three-point range...Florida shot 36.5 percent from the floor, but made only 2- of-13 from beyond the arc.
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