No. 22 Vanderbilt Commodores face No. 23 Florida Gators in SEC matchup on ESPN

By Scott Matthews

The No. 22 Vanderbilt Commodores and the No. 23 Florida Gators will both be looking to get over ugly weekend losses when the SEC foes meet Tuesday at the Stephen O’Connell Center (9 pm ET, ESPN).

Both of these conference rivals had won three straight heading into their respective Saturday tilts, and both suffered setbacks that can only be described as demoralizing.

The Commodores (15-5 SU, 8-5-1 ATS, 3-3 SEC) were 89-78 losers against the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, getting rocked as a 13-point favorite in their own barn.

It was Vanderbilt’s first loss in 11 home games this season and it came before a capacity crowd. And Arkansas picked up its first win against a ranked team after winning only three times in the past 10 trips to Vanderbilt.

Rotnei Clarke of the Razorbacks scored a season-high 36 points while John Jenkins led Vanderbilt with 24 points.

The Gators (16-5 SU, 6-9 ATS, 5-2 SEC) had circled Jan. 29 as a day to get revenge on the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who eliminated Florida from the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last March with a 75-69 win. Instead, Florida will just want to turn the page on the calendar and forget about the Bulldogs after losing their second straight to them Saturday.

Florida lost 71-64 and couldn’t cover as a 6-point road favorite. Erving Walker led the Gators with 18 points. One factor in the loss was Florida’s dismal 9-of-19 performance from the free throw line.

Florida has just a slight edge in the head-to-head series at 6-4 SU and ATS, and the Commodores won both meetings last season.

In a spot like this, with both teams desperate to make up for their last performances, I have to go with Florida a 3.5-point home favorite.

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