No. 17 Florida gets another shot at Vanderbilt (Mar 10, 2017)
Florida began clamoring for a third shot at Vanderbilt even before it knew the Commodores were the opponent.
The No. 17 Gators got their wish and look to avenge two regular-season losses against Vanderbilt when the teams square off in Friday's quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
The seventh-seeded Commodores advanced with a superb 66-41 rout of Texas A&M on Thursday, hours after the Florida players expressed their wishes in a press conference.
"We can't control who wins," sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen said. "But if (Vanderbilt) wins, we'll be prepared for what they do and just be ready."
Senior point guard Kasey Hill was more succinct.
"I want to beat them," Hill said.
The Commodores (18-14) won both regular-season meetings by two points and another victory over the second-seeded Gators (24-7) could sew up an NCAA Tournament berth.
"I thought we should be in before. I feel we should be in now," Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said. "With our strength of schedule, our quality of wins, how we've finished the season and now advancing to the quarters here. But I'm just a basketball coach and I've got to do my job."
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt sophomore swingman Joe Toye, who scored a career-best 18 points against Texas A&M, said he knows Florida is looking forward to Friday's game.
"It's tough to beat a team three times so we know it's a challenge," Toye said, "but I think we're up to it."
While the Gators are playing to maintain or improve on their projected high NCAA tourney seeding, the Commodores are in a position few could foresee.
Vanderbilt didn't look like a tournament team when it was below .500 25 games into the season, but six wins in the past seven games have changed everything.
"Basketball is a game of motion. It's a game of momentum," Drew said. "It can change really, really quickly one way or the other. The last couple of weeks, we've played really good basketball. I've said this before, but as a coach, you just don't want to mess it up."
A topic Drew doesn't want to touch is why Vanderbilt has the magic touch against the Gators.
"Well, one 3-point shot in both games the other way and we're not so successful," Drew said. "They both have been close games. They were one-possession games."
Florida coach Mike White doesn't have an answer for the two defeats but he does know that Hill needs to play better.
Hill, a second-team All-SEC selection, is averaging 9.6 points and 4.6 assists. But he has more turnovers (18) than assists (11) over the past five games.
"Kasey's got to be better," said White, who was named SEC Coach of the Year. "Kasey's a senior and I know he wants it as much as anyone. I like him on the court. I do. I like him on the court, especially late in his senior year.
"I anticipate his focus being better. I think he's going to finish strong for us."
Allen, who averages 13.9 points, was a first-team all-SEC selection while senior swingman Canyon Barry (12.5) was named the league's Sixth Man of the Year.
Vanderbilt senior center Luke Kornet was a first-team All-SEC pick. Kornet, who averages 13.5 points, matched his career high of 24 points Saturday versus Florida.
Junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis averages a team-best 13.8 points and junior forward Jeff Roberson contributes 10.9 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds.
