Colleges

Gators zoom past Vanderbilt from start

An early 34-6 margin, highlighted by a 23-0 run, leads Florida to first in the SEC East.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published January 28, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] UF's Nick Calathes drives to the basket with Vanderbilt's Shan Foster, left, trying to keep up in the first half of the Gators' 86-64 win Sunday. Calathes finished with 15 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

GAINESVILLE - The game plan for Florida was to keep Vanderbilt from doing what it does best - running its man offense to perfection and shooting the lights out of the gym.

Planning to stop it was one thing, but even Florida didn't see this one coming, at least not like this.

Less than six minutes into the game, Florida began a 23-0 run on its way to an 86-64 victory over No.14 Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon in front of 12,449 at the O'Connell Center, the largest home crowd of the season.

Florida 18-3, 5-1 SEC took over sole possession of first in the SEC East. The Gators relied on an up-tempo offense and continually switched defenses, all of which seemed to stymie Vanderbilt from the start.

"I thought we really got the game going up and down," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "We were trying to play somewhat chaotic, trying to press and take them out of what they wanted to do.

"Vanderbilt is so good offensively, they can come down and set up their man offense. ... We felt like we needed to press and attack and try to run them off shots to get the game going up and down."

They did it beyond their expectations. Midway through the first half, Vanderbilt (17-3, 2-3) was 3-of-18 from the field and had committed 10 turnovers. Eventually leading 34-6 with 8:10 remaining in the first half, even the Gators found themselves stunned.

"I knew we were winning, but when (I heard) 23-0, I'm still kind of shocked," said sophomore Dan Werner, who finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists. "I knew we were putting it on them pretty good, but I didn't know it was that."

"I've never seen anything like that," said UF center Marreese Speights of St. Petersburg, who had 12 points and eight rebounds. "It was crazy."

It was actually Florida's second run of its kind this season. The Gators had a 24-0 run in the win over North Florida Nov.20.

But this was Vanderbilt, a team that began the season 17-0.

The Commodores made a run after falling behind. Trailing 36-9 with 7:44 left in the first half, Vanderbilt outscored Florida 22-8 to pull within 44-31 with 59 seconds remaining in the first half. But they never cut the lead under double digits.

"We obviously got overwhelmed during the first 12 minutes of the game and were never able to recover," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "We were outplayed and outcoached."

It was Florida's first victory over a ranked opponent this season. The Gators had five players in double figures and added 26 assists on 29 baskets, including 10 by freshman Nick Calathes (who also had 15 points).

Junior guard Walter Hodge had a career-high 19 points, with a handful coming on the backdoor cuts on which the Gators lived.

"The guys did a great job finding me today and I had some good shots," Hodge said. "We got those (back-door cuts) good. They were overplaying so Dan Werner did a great job finding me."

The Gators held Vanderbilt's Shan Foster and freshman center A.J. Ogilvy, who came in averaging 20 and 18 points, to seven and nine respectively - the first time this season each scored single digits.

"When you see the other big (man) on the bench, breathing for air, that feels real good," Speights said.

No.14 Vandy 64

[Last modified January 27, 2008, 21:14:02]