Five takeaways: Vanderbilt outlasts Florida in SEC tournament quarters

Vanderbilt Hustler Payton Willis and Riley LaChance (middle) celebrate as Vanderbilt defeated No. 17 Florida 72-62 in overtime in the SEC tournament quarterfinals Friday, March 10, 2017.
Vanderbilt beat the second-seeded Florida Gators 72-62 in overtime to add to its regular-season sweep of the Gators and advance to the Saturday afternoon’s semifinals of the SEC tournament. Here are some thoughts from the win.
Impressive three-point shooting
In their regular-season finale just up the road at Memorial Gym six days ago, the Commodores pulled out a two-point win against a Florida team that held them to 5-for-22 shooting beyond the three-point line. There was no such struggle from downtown in their SEC tournament quarterfinal matchup, as Vanderbilt went 11-of-27 to shoot at a 41 percent clip.
Even though Florida won the matchup in the paint, outscoring Vanderbilt 28-20 inside, and cleaned the offensive glass for 12 second chance points to Vanderbilt’s four, the Commodores hit key three-pointers to pull away every time the Gators got close. Riley LaChance hit 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, including a bomb in overtime to put the game beyond reach, while Mathew Fisher-Davis came off the bench to contribute three key treys, two in the second half.
“I thought Matthew Fisher-Davis hit a couple back breakers on us,” Florida head coach Mike White said.
Kornet dominates inside
Seven-foot-one senior Luke Kornet is mostly known for his defense, and rightly so. He was named into the SEC All-Defensive team and only trails Festus Ezeli for the all-time mark for blocks in school history. But the towering senior has had his way against the Gators this season on the offensive end, especially since they lost center John Egbunu to an ACL tear.
This has forced White to play smaller players Devin Robinson and Kevarrius Hayes, both under 6’10”, on Kornet. As a result, he has had his way with offense inside with his back ...


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