Florida basketball: Gators defense collapses, fall to Vandy at home

Florida basketball got out of their four-game gauntlet and had an easy game at home against the Vanderbilt Commodores to help them get back on track.

But the Gators just didn’t come ready to play.

The Gators lost a must-win game at home to Vanderbilt, giving them a steep hill to climb up if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.

Following the same script we’ve seen over the past few weeks, Colin Castleton gave the Gators a great performance, but they just couldn’t find a way to win.

Castleton finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but his double-double wasn’t enough to propel the Gators to a win.

The biggest story of the game was the Gator defense. They ranked 11th in the KenPom rankings in total defense coming into this one. But for whatever reason, they just couldn’t stop Liam Robbins and the ‘Dores from scoring at will in their arena.

Robbins finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds, his career high scoring and a dominant game on the glass.

The Gators came into this game allowing just 66.2 points per game, and Vandy has not been known for elite scoring and playmaking on the offensive side.

But Vandy came out today and scored 88, and Florida just couldn’t keep up.

This loss did a lot of damage to the Gators’ tournament hopes. This was the beginning of an easy stretch of their schedule, and probably the most winnable game left before post-season play.

Losing a home game to Vanderbilt is not the best way to get into the tournament, believe it or not. Todd Golden and the Gators have a lot of questions to answer as they enter the final stretch of the season.

At this point, they likely need to win out and make a run in the SEC Tournament if they want a shot at making the big dance.

Keep up with Florida basketball at Hail Florida Hail.