Scottie Lewis' return couldn't have come at a better time for the Florida Gators.

Florida watched as Tre Mann, Anthony Duruji, and Colin Castleton all tally two fouls early in the first half but Lewis was there to pick up the slack. The sophomore guard scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes during the first half of play.

"I hadn't seen him make a pull-up jump shot in three weeks and I saw him make two in the first half," White said of Lewis. "He provided a big lift."

Florida came out shooting the lights out in the first half, drilling seven of their first 11 shots. The Gators built a double-digit lead in the first half thanks largely to the play of Lewis. Mike White said he expected to get Lewis into the game for two minutes early to see how his conditioning was and then limit him to 15-20 minutes total. But Lewis ended up playing most of the first half and nearly 27 minutes total.

Florida's lead would have been bigger if not for the play of Scotty Pippen Jr. The guard score 15 of Vanderbilt's first 20 points and a career-high 32 points in the game.

The story of the game, however, was the Gators almost blowing a 20 point lead late in the game. Florida appeared to be cruising but Vanderbilt went on a run and made the Gators sweat it out at the end.

"We’re up 20, we can’t blow that lead. Just mental mistakes by myself – all of us. Coach White preached to us that we have to get better and not regress. I think we regressed today. Coach White would say that we regressed today," Lewis said. "Practice tomorrow getting prepared for Saturday. Just really lock in and be focused. We’re a lot better than what we showed today in that second half. Anything I can add to our value, I’m going to do that.”

Florida has won six straight against Vanderbilt, matching the Gators’ second-longest winning streak in series history (7, 2004-07; 6, 1983-86).

The Gators hit seven of their first 11 attempts from 3-point range and finished the game with 10 made 3-pointers, matching a season-high.

Scottie Lewis returned after a four-game absence and added 10 points, four steals (matching a career-high), and four assists off the bench.

The Gators were +16 in bench scoring, 26-10.

Colin Castleton scored all 13 of his points in the second half. In the two outings vs. Vanderbilt this season, Castleton totaled six first-half points and 30 second-half points.

What: SEC/Big 12 Challenge

Who: Florida at No. 11 West Virginia

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

TV: ESPN

Radio: 103.7-FM, AM-850