1. Florida has now lost two straight to fall into a 2nd place tie in the SEC. This loss wasn’t surprising. The loss that is going to haunt them was Saturday’s game where they were beaten by lowly Georgia. Now Vanderbilt has the inside track at the #2 seed in the SEC Tournament. The Gators have to finish their season against Kentucky, while the Commodores draw Tennessee. Florida last won the SEC Tournament in 2007.
2. The Gators are the 16th best 3-pt shooting team in the nation (39.2% v D1 opponents), but in their past two games they’ve made only 13-47 (27.7%). This is a team that scores more of its points from beyond the arc than 341 of 345 Division I teams. They only score 43.2% of their points on 2s which is 334th. They have five players who have attempted more 3s than 2s. In the past ten years no team has made the Final Four shooting 3s as often as the Gators. It’s very hard to win 4-straight games in March when you lose if your outside shot goes cold. The national average is 34.4% from beyond the arc. When the Gators shoot like an average team this year they’re 5-6.
3. The Gators assist rate has been a solid 56% this season. But on Tuesday they generated an assist on only 7 of 26 made field goals (27%). It was the fewest assists they’ve had in a game this season, and they haven’t recorded less since December 15, 2007 against Georgia Southern.
4. John Jenkins made 6-9 3s (and his only 2), to score 22 points. It was the 4th time this season that Jenkins has made at least six 3s, and the 8th time in his career. He also made six against UF as a freshman. On the season Jenkins has now made 115-246 3s (46.7%).
5. The rest of Vanderbilt shooters made 6-15 (40%), and so, on the night, the Dores made half their 3s. Vanderbilt is one of the rare teams that shoots a higher percentage than the Gators, and they have now made 40.2% (11th nationally).
