Vanderbilt Sweeps Gainesville 106-87 as Grizzlies Aim for Big Ten Championship
Vanderbilt basketball had a size disadvantage against Florida in the SEC tournament semifinals, but overcame that with speed and 3-point shooting.
Earlier in the season, it seemed Vanderbilt basketball's weakness was physicality. An undersized roster appeared to be struggling to hang with bigger teams. At first, it was true.
But that was before the past three games the No. 4 seed Commodores played. They twice beat fifth-seeded Tennessee, which often plays two bigs together — once, in the regular-season finale in Knoxville, and then in the SEC tournament quarterfinal.
On March 14, they beat No. 1 seed Florida 91-74 in the semifinals at Bridgestone Arena. The Gators (26-7) take things a step further by typically playing three bigs together.
The Commodores (26-7) didn't quite win the game with more physicality. They were out-rebounded 38-23 and gave up 20 offensive boards. They were just 7-for-17 on layups.