Two teams coming off weekend losses look to get back on track in a virtual six-team race for the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division lead as Vanderbilt and Florida meet up for the first time this season on Tuesday night in Gainesville.
The Commodores fell to 3-3 in the SEC after an 89-78 loss to Arkansas on Saturday night, the team’s first home loss of the season. The Gators rallied from an early deficit against Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon but could not pull out a victory that would have given them a full one-game lead over the rest of the division, falling instead to 5-2 in the conference with a 71-64 loss in Starkville. The entire Eastern Division currently sits within two games of each other in the standings.
Florida has two speedy guards in junior Erving Walker and sophomore Kenny Boynton who have frustrated SEC defenses all January. Walker and Boynton average a combined 27.4 points per game and each scored 24 in the Gators’ last win, a 104-91 overtime thriller in Athens against Georgia last Tuesday.
