Gator Hoops: The Week Ahead (Feb 24th)

Florida is running out of options with only three regular season games remaining plus the SEC Tournament. That is in Tampa, but don’t expect too much of a home court advantage the way some teams in this league travel.

Of these three games remaining, the next two are more difficult than they appear. Georgia has always been a tough game for Florida in Stegeman Coliseum and Vanderbilt is trying to fight its way onto the NCAA Bubble.

That’s where Florida resides now. At the top of the list of Joe Lunardi’s next four out, which is not where you want to be.

The losses at Texas A&M and at home to Arkansas probably don’t outweigh the win over Auburn on Saturday. A team that has excelled on defense all year had no answers for the Razorbacks and could be wearing down as this season comes to a close.

Colin Castleton has been playing lights out despite being in pain with that shoulder injury and Tyree Appleby has been amazing down the stretch. But Florida lacks a third option. It’s too easy to take Myreon Jones out of a game and Anthony Duruji has been in a slump ever since Castleton returned to the lineup.

It’s all right there in front of the Gators. The question is whether they want to take it and even if they do are they good enough?

NET REPORT: Florida’s loss to Arkansas dropped the Gators (17-11) down and they now sit at No. 56 with two Quad 1 wins.

Georgia is a team that can only hurt you even if Florida can escape Saturday. The Bulldogs are 211^th in NET at 6-22.

Vanderbilt is 79^th and has just as many Quad 1 wins as Florida (two).

UP NEXT, GEORGIA: This has been a rough year for Tom Crean and it may well be his last year. The Bulldogs are 6-22 so far this season after losing transfers like K.D. Johnson (Auburn) and Sahvir Wheeler (Kentucky) and missing out on some in-state players.

We do know that Kario Oquindo can be a problem and he is averaging 15.1 points per game and Braelin Bridges is a force inside.

But Georgia is last in the league in rebounds (of course, Florida is 13^th).

THEN, IT’S VANDERILT:  The Commodores have shown some life under the fiery and well-dressed Jerry Stackhouse and are 14-13 and 6-9 in the SEC so this is a game that could have an impact for seeding in the SEC Tournament.

Everyone remembers Scottie Pippen Jr. having an off day in Gainesville, but he still leads the SEC in scoring at 19.7 per game.

Surprisingly, Vandy is 9-7 in home games.

 IN 2022: Florida beat Georgia on Feb. 9 72-63 as Myreon Jones went off for 23 points on 7-for-11 from three. Oquindo had 22 in the game.

The Gators also beat Vanderbilt earlier in the season 61-42 as Pippen went 1-for-10 and Florida’s defense held the Commodores to 14 second-half points.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s come down to cases for the Gators and they may need to win their final three games to get into the tourney. We know this – a loss to Georgia would almost be as bad as the early season loss to Texas Southern (which now has a winning record and a 209 NET).