FINAL: Vanderbilt 88, Florida 72

WHAT HAPPENED: Seven-foot center Liam Robbins scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds, blocked five shots and helped lead a balanced Vanderbilt scoring attack that shot 52 percent Saturday night in a 88-72 triumph over Florida in their Southeastern Conference game at Memorial Gymnasium. Guards Ezra Mangon (17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) and Tyrin Lawrence (13 points) were two of the six Vandy players to hit double-figure scoring, as the Commodores, winners of six of the previous seven, used 53-percent shooting in the first half to open a 13-point lead, with the Gators unable to mount any serious threat thereafter. UF was led by freshman guard Riley Kugel’s game-high 20 points, giving him six straight games in double digits. Fifth-year point guard Kyle Lofton had 15 points, as the Gators shot 43 percent for the game, but went just 7-for-24 from the 3-point line, including one of nine in the second half. The teams traded early offensive blows before Vandy used a run of seven straight points to go up by eight, then hit three 3 pointers in just over two minutes to help build a double-digit lead that got as large as 13. The Gators were a second away from going the final 4:38 of the half without a field goal when Lofton dropped a 3 with a second to go to send UF to the locker room down 46-36. The Commodores had five different players combining for seven 3s through the first 20 minutes and needed six minutes to surge to its 16-point second-half advantage. Florida cut that lead to little as nine with 5:35 to go, but just before the final media timeout Robbins and guard Trey Thomas (11 points) bombed back-to-back 3s to push the home team back up by 15. 

WHAT IT MEANS: The Commodores completed their first sweep of their annual home-and-home series with the Gators since 2017. In losing a third straight, UF’s record fell below .500 and with two regular-season games remaining the team is in danger of its first losing record since 2014-15, which was the last under Billy Donovan. This is also the latest in a season the team has had a sub-.500 record since 1997, which was Donovan’s first season. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: In two games against the Gators the last two weeks, Robbins combined for 50 points, went 17 of 29 from the floor, hit four of five from the 3-point line, 12 of 17 from the free-throw line, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked nine shots.

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Lofton, the…