‘Heartbreaking’ loss to Vanderbilt

GAINESVILLE — After it was over, there was only the sound of a dull thud — KeVaughn Allen’s fist pounding the court.

He had just taken the last shot of the game, a step-back, fade-away 3-pointer deep in the right corner. It was a tough shot, but Allen was feeling confident, the result of a seasonhigh 29-point performance on his home floor.

But the sophomore guard couldn’t make his final shot. And after it clanked off the side of the rim, giving No. 19 Florida (14-5, 5-2 SEC) a 68-66 loss to Vanderbilt (9-10, 3-4) in front of a home crowd of 10,523, Allen did not hide his frustration.

“It’s heartbreaking,” the sophomore said.

What started out as a promising five-game win streak to open conference play has quickly turned sour for Florida. The Gators have lost their last two games. They’ve struggled to score and defend. And, after the game, UF coach Mike White had no answers.

“I’m at a complete loss,” White said. “I don’t know who our team thinks we are, but we’re not that.”

Allen was one of the lone bright spots for a Florida offense that trailed for more than half of the game. After scoring 10 points in the last two contests combined, Allen was aggressive on Saturday.

He attacked the rim. He created open jumpers off his dribble. He hit two of his first four 3-pointers, sparking UF on a 7-2 run to close the half and take a 32-27 lead into the break. But it wasn’t enough. “He was really good,” White said of Allen, who shot 55.5 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from 3-point range. “But [Vanderbilt] still had their way with us.”

White said “miscommunications” and “immaturity” led to UF’s defensive breakdowns throughout the game. He criticized Florida’s finger pointing during timeouts, where he said players blamed each other instead of taking ownership for their failures to communicate on defense. The Gators’ problems culminated during the second half when they allowed Vanderbilt to shoot 56.5 percent from the field.

“We haven’t been talking to each other like we have been in the past,” forward Devin Robinson said. “We need to let our egos go and talk.”

Robinson finished second on the team with 12 points and added six rebounds, but the junior fouled out with 1:30 left with the Gators trailing by one point. Excluding Robinson and Allen, UF’s seven other players combined to score 25 points and none of them finished in double digits.