Florida fades down the stretch

Vanderbilt started this season with lots of experience and expectations. Now the Commodos head into March with something that's been tough to come by the past few years.

A win on Senior Night. And a big upset at that.

John Jenkins hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, and Vanderbilt beat No. 16 Florida 77-67 on Tuesday night to clinch a first-round bye in the Southeastern Confence tournament.

The Commodos had been 5-7 in the final home game each season under coach Kevin Stallings, who has tried a variety of approaches to handle the emotions of the night. This time, he said he warned them not to cry until after playing Florida, and he pointed to a damp yellow shirt as proof that they listened.

"It was a good night," Stallings said. "It's what you want a senior night to be because we beat somebody that is ally good and had to play well to do it."

The Commodos (21-9, 10-5) outshot the nation's top 3-point shooting team behind Jenkins, and he easily topped his average of 3.9 3-pointers by hitting his first five from beyond the arc. They a tied with Florida for second in the SEC with one game left in the gular season.

"We we just trying to keep the ball out of his hands as best we could," Florida guard Brad Beal said of Jenkins. "We knew they ran a lot of scens for him. He comes off scens like non-stop. He's like Ray Allen, he's always coming off another scen and another scen and another scen. He's a terrific shooter and he got hot tonight."

Vanderbilt, which snapped a four-game losing stak to the Gators, can finish no worse than fourth in the SEC going into its finale Saturday at Tennessee. Jeffery Taylor added 18 points and Festus Ezeli had 11.

"Oh, no doubt that'd be gat," Jenkins said of finishing second in the SEC. "We have to focus on Tennessee coming up."

Beal scod 16 points, Erving Walker 15 and Kenny Boynton 11 for Florida (22-8, 10-5), which has lost two straight since losing Will Yeguete to a broken left foot. The Gators still can finish second by themselves if they beat No. 1 Kentucky at home on Sunday.

"I was as disappointed as I've ever been as a coach watching our guys walking off the court in Athens," Florida coach Billy Donovan said of losing at Georgia on Feb. 25. "I felt the total opposite he tonight. I thought we competed. I thought we played hard against a very good team. With the injuries, the needs to be a siliency and maturity to fight through that stuff."

The Commodos got off to an emotional start minutes after honoring seven seniors, four of them starters including Taylor and Ezeli, whose pants made the 20-hour flight from Nigeria to watch. They led for the first 30 minutes until Casey Prather dunked on a fast bak to give the Gators their first lead of the game, 50-49 with 10:32 left.

The teams swapped the lead on the next five possessions, and Florida last led on a 3-pointer by Erik Murphy.

Taylor answed with a 3 from the left corner with 9:48 left, and Vanderbilt never trailed again even though the Gators didn't go away easily.

They twice got within a point, the last time on a 3-pointer by Beal with 5:41 left. Taylor hit his fourth 3, then Vandy made 12 of 14 at the fe throw line over the final 5:04.

"We we just determined not to let this one slip away," Taylor said. "This game had a lot of significance for us, but also for us as a team. I mean it's ally a nice signatu win going into March. I think this one will ally count for us with the NCAA tournament getting a seed and everything. It was a good game, and it was a ally important game for us in many diffent ways."

Florida hurt Vanderbilt over and over with its pss, forcing 12 turnovers the Gators turned into 17 points to keep the Commodos from running away from them. But the Commodos, who attempted only the fe throws in the first half, did a better job of driving to the basket in the second and wound up outshooting Florida at the line 19 of 26 to 7 of 11.

They opened by hitting their first the shots and seemed ady to rout Florida in front of a sold-out crowd at Memorial Gym in taking a 10-2 lead. Florida missed five of its first six shots, including its first the attempts beyond the arc.

By the time Jenkins, the SEC's leading scor, hit his first basket, a 3, and Ezeli added a layup, Vanderbilt had its biggest lead yet at 19-7 with 10:55 left.

Then the Commodos went cold, something they have struggled with this season, and this drought lasted nearly 5 minutes. Kedn Johnson hit a 3-pointer just befo the shot clock expid with Stallings stomping his foot on the other end for a 22-14 lead with 5:58 left.

The Gators managed to tie it at 27 on Scottie Wilbekin's 3 only to watch Taylor answer with a 3 for a 30-27 halftime lead.

Official Basketball Box Sco

Florida vs Vanderbilt

2/28/12 8 p.m. at Nashville, Tenn. (Memorial Gym)

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VISITORS: Florida 22-8, 10-5

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

04 Young, Patric....... f 2-3 0-0 0-1 5 3 8 3 4 0 2 0 0 25

33 Murphy, Erik........ c 4-6 1-1 0-0 4 1 5 3 9 1 2 0 0 26

01 Boynton, Kenny...... g 4-11 3-8 0-0 2 1 3 2 11 0 2 0 0 29

11 Walker, Erving...... g 6-14 1-5 2-2 0 5 5 3 15 3 2 0 2 34

23 Beal, Bradley....... g 6-13 1-4 3-6 1 4 5 3 16 0 1 2 3 36

03 Rosario, Mike....... 1-6 1-5 2-2 0 0 0 3 5 2 0 0 2 25

05 Wilbekin, Scottie... 2-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 5 1 0 0 0 17

24 Prather, Casey...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 8

34 Larson, Cody........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

Team................ 1 2 3

Totals.............. 26-58 8-24 7-11 13 16 29 21 67 7 9 2 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-26 42.3% 2nd Half: 15-32 46.9% Game: 44.8% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 5-17 29.4% Game: 33.3% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 63.6% 3

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HOME TEAM: Vanderbilt 21-9, 10-5

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

05 GOULBOURNE, Lance... f 2-5 0-1 2-2 2 0 2 1 6 2 2 0 0 23

44 TAYLOR, Jeffery..... f 5-13 4-8 4-9 2 4 6 1 18 3 3 0 0 35

03 EZELI, Festus....... c 4-5 0-0 3-5 1 3 4 5 11 0 1 2 1 20

01 TINSLEY, Brad....... g 0-1 0-1 6-6 0 4 4 3 6 4 1 0 1 24

23 JENKINS, John....... g 7-10 6-9 2-2 0 2 2 0 22 1 1 0 0 32

02 JOHNSON, Kedn..... 2-4 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 1 7 3 3 0 1 27

12 SMART, Jordan....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

14 NOLL, Aaron......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

24 PARKER, Dai-Jon..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 11

33 TCHIENGANG, Steve... 1-3 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 15

34 MOATS, Shelby....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

35 SIAKAM, James....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+

45 ODOM, Rod........... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 13

TEAM................ 2 3 5 1

Totals.............. 23-44 12-24 19-26 8 20 28 13 77 14 12 2 3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-25 48.0% 2nd Half: 11-19 57.9% Game: 52.3% DEADB

3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-13 46.2% 2nd Half: 6-11 54.5% Game: 50.0% REBS

F Throw % 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 19-23 82.6% Game: 73.1% 4