#13 Gators (22-7) vs Commodores (20-9)
The Florida Gators are looking to finish strong but it wont be easy. To finish their SEC regular season they will be visiting Vanderbilt and following that with a visit from Kentucky to the Swamp.
Tuesday February 28
Memorial Gym – Nashville, TN
9:00PM
Moneyline: No money line currently listed
Spread: Vanderbilt -3.5
O/U: 141
Florida
The Gators were stunned on the road on Saturday against Georgia and need a strong showing to maintain a nice seed line for the tournament.
Both of these final two games are winnable, especially Vanderbilt on Tuesday, who they beat by 8 points at home earlier this month.
Florida lost forward Will Yugeute last week to a foot injury.
This team is lead by its outstanding guards but this is still a big loss as he provided hustle and heart on defense and on the boards. Against teams with a lot of size or depth his loss would be a bigger factor but against Vandy the Gators should still be able to win.
Against Georgia they were just wretched shooting the ball. Good thing they got it out of their system before it was too late.
Vanderbilt
This year’s Vanderbilt team was supposed to be all time good with some placing the Commodores in the top 10 preseason. The season hasn’t quite panned out as planned but this is a very talented team that could make some noise in March for the first time in a while. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Their chances of winning the SEC are slim with Kentucky at the top but if they win their last two they could be in the second spot in the conference before the conference tourney begins.
That feels about right given pre-season expectations.
The Commodores are tough to beat because they have good balance and they are a very good shooting team. The legend of John Jenkins continues to grow, but both he and the athletic Jeffery Taylor, have upped their games this year.
Between the two of them they average 37 points per game as Taylor has become a three point threat in his senior year. Throw in a solid post player in Festus Ezeli and a swiss army knife in Lance Goulbourne and you have almost everything you need to be good.
The weak spot in this group is point guard Brad Tinsley who only scored 4 points against the Gators when they last met.
Spread Pick: Florida +3.5
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Florida 77 – Vanderbilt 75
