After beating Tennessee in the SEC tournament quarterfinals, No. 22-ranked Vanderbilt basketball will face the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the semifinals as it will take on No. 4-ranked Florida.
The Gators (26-6) finished three games clear of everyone else in the SEC regular-season standings. The two teams played once this season, with Florida winning 98-94 on Jan. 17 at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Vanderbilt-Florida semifinal winner on March 14 (noon CT, ESPN) will advance to the SEC tournament final. The No.4 seed Commodores last won the SEC tournament in 2012 and last played in the semifinals in 2023.
Here’s our score prediction:
The Gators won, 98-94, in the first matchup at Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 17. Four Florida players had over 15 points in that game, and the same four also had six rebounds. The Commodores especially had trouble dealing with the Gators’ bigs, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh.
Florida defeated Kentucky, 71-63, in the first quarterfinal. Alex Condon scored 22 points, while Thomas Haugh had 13. The Gators collected 50 rebounds while the Wildcats had just 29.
Florida limited Kentucky to 36% shooting from the field but shot just 38% itself.
Vanderbilt defeated Tennessee, 75-68, in its quarterfinal. Duke Miles scored 30 points while Tyler Tanner had 19. The Commodores were out-rebounded, 46-34, but shot 40% from the field to the Vols’ 38% and went 22-for-26 from the free-throw line.
Vanderbilt likely moved up to a No. 4 seed in March Madness with the win over Tennessee. Could the Commodores become a No. 3 seed? It’s theoretically possible with a win over Florida, though not guaranteed. Just two SEC teams have defeated the Gators this season: Auburn and Missouri. Both teams are on the NCAA tournament bubble, so a victory would not be out of the realm of possibility.
Game time: Noon CT
Channel: ESPN | Stream: Fubo
Location: Bridgestone Arena
Florida 77, Vanderbilt 69
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