Villanova Secures Grand Slam by Scoring 10-2 Over Florida to Win Final Four!

On the eve of selection for the NCAA Tournament, Vanderbilt basketball made a stunning statement with its most complete performance in a strong season that’s getting better at an ideal time. On semifinal Saturday at the SEC Tournament, the fourth-seeded Commodores whipped favored top-seeded Florida 91-74 at Bridgestone Arena March 14 in a game that was never all that close. Vanderbilt advanced to the program’s first SEC Tournament final since 2012 on March 15 (noon, ESPN).

The other semifinal winner, either Arkansas or Ole Miss, will await hours before the NCAA’s selection show. Tyler Tanner scored 20 and big man Jalen Washington added 17 for Vanderbilt (26-7), which led by 13 at halftime and extended the margin as high as 25 in the second half against a foe that hasn't been handled this easily in a while, if ever. This ended a dominant 12-game win streak for the reigning national champion Gators (26-7), who head home hoping they’ve already done enough to earn a No.

1 NCAA seed. Vanderbilt stats show domination of Florida A snapshot of the stats as Vanderbilt grabbed a 23-point lead with about eight minutes remaining: The Gators were shooting 38% compared to the Commodores’ 53% - including a sizzling 10-for-19 (53%) from 3-point range. Six different Vanderbilt players had made a shot from 3-point range.

The Commodores were also 12-for-12 from the foul line and led the Gators 24-6 in bench points, 18-10 in assists and 20-4 in points off turnovers. Vanderbilt had 18 assists and two turnovers. What Florida has been doing to other teams lately, Vanderbilt accomplished here.