Plenty is on the line when Vanderbilt hosts Florida in a crucial Sec matchup on Saturday afternoon. The Gators can still get the top seed in the SEC tournament and their only loss has been to Kentucky in the last 11 games. The Commodores also fell victim to the Wildcats in a close game that ended their four-game winning streak. Vanderbilt has won the last three meetings against Florida. Tipoff is set for 2:00 PM Eastern time and the contest can be seen on ESPN, WatchESPN, and the ESPN mobile app.
No. 12 Florida (24-6, 14-3 SEC)
This could be a tougher matchup than expected for the Gators.
While their offense hovers at 80 points per game this season (56th nationally), recent success has slightly been inflated by scoring 114 points against Auburn. In their last two games on the road, they've been held to 66 points against Kentucky and 57 points against Mississippi State. There's a good chance the offense will be limited again when they take on a solid defense.
Senior guard Canyon Barry (12.4 ppg) has struggled in recent action, but finally blew up with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting against Arkansas. He's listed as probable with an ankle injury for the upcoming game. Leading scorer KeVaughn Allen (13.9 ppg) had 24 points or more in recent outings against Kentucky and South Carolina.
Vanderbilt (16-14, 9-8 SEC)
The Commodores have become more of a threat in the second half of the season with an improved defense. They've held opponents to 61.2 points on average in the last five games and have won eight of their last 10 games against the spread. Is that all enough to get Vandy into the big dance? Not quite.
Recent ESPN projections show them as the first team out entering Saturday.
With a win over Florida, that will likely put Vanderbilt into the NCAA Tournament. They'll need to have Matthew Fisher-Davis (14.4 ppg) return to recent form. He struggled with foul trouble in the recent 73-67 loss to Kentucky and missed all four field goal attempts in 18 minutes of action.
Had Fisher-Davis had a slightly better outing against the Wildcats, they could have gotten the win.
Florida is a 3.5-point favorite in this matchup and the O/U is set at 139 points. Both teams are 17-11 against the spread this season.
