Scottie Wilbekin couldn’t ice the game, Michael Frazier II couldn’t break out from behind the arc and Casey Prather couldn’t score during the game’s last 32 minutes.
But when all else failed against Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, Dorian Finney-Smith didn’t.
No. 1 Florida (26-2, 15-0 Southeastern Conference) escaped from Nashville, Tenn., with a 57-54 victory thanks to Finney-Smith, who finished the night 6 of 11 for a game-high 19 points.
The redshirt sophomore broke out of his 1-of-25 slump from three-point range to hit 3 of 6 threes against the Commodores (15-12, 7-8 SEC), including his biggest shot of the night with 33 seconds left in a two-point contest.
After letting a 12-point lead with just more than 13 minutes left in the second half crumble to a 54-52 battle within the final minute, the Gators created some breathing room once Wilbekin found a wide-open Finney-Smith at the top of the arc.
“We really needed it,” coach Billy Donovan said of Finney-Smith’s clutch performance. “It was good to see him kind of break out.”
The last time Finney-Smith had a double-digit scoring performance was Feb. 1 against Texas A&M. In the six games leading up to Tuesday night’s matchup with Vanderbilt, the 6-foot-8 forward averaged just 4.5 points per game on 22 percent shooting.
Despite the unlikely turnaround by Finney-Smith, the Gators still struggled to create separation from the Commodores down the stretch.
In the first half, Florida forced 11 turnovers including five from the press, but Vanderbilt’s 10-of-20 shooting from the floor and 4 of 10 from three kept it down only 32-25 at the break.
Even when the Gators extended their lead to a game-high 12 points about midway through the second half, the Commodores used three consecutive three-pointers to thrust themselves back into the game.
Donovan said a big reason why Florida still clung to a lead despite allowing eight threes from Vanderbilt was the Gators’ hustle for second-chance opportunities led by Finney-Smith and Patric Young.
Finney-Smith led all players with nine rebounds in the game, but six of Young’s seven total rebounds were on the offensive side of the ball. Florida outrebounded Vanderbilt 31-25, including a 13-3 advantage on offensive rebounds.
“That was a huge key,” Donovan said. “Patric chased basketballs on the backboard ... Dorian Finney-Smith got to the glass. We did a really, really good job on the backboard keeping possessions alive.”
But a subpar performance at the free-throw line almost negated the Gators’ effort on the glass.
After Finney-Smith extended Florida’s lead to five following his three-point shot with 33 seconds on the clock, Vanderbilt’s Kyle Fuller answered with a layup to bring the game back to within one possession.
After Fuller fouled Wilbekin with 10 seconds remaining, the senior point guard had a chance to seal the win by sinking at least the first of his one-and-one from the line. But Wilbekin’s shot rimmed out and the Commodores had one last shot to tie the game with a three.
Vanderbilt inbounded the ball out of a timeout with 6.6 seconds left and gave Fuller an open three from the left wing. The ball bounced off the glass, hit the front of the rim and by the time the Commodores retrieved the rebound, it was too late to try another three.
“I should have fouled him as soon as he started dribbling,” Young said. “We were very fortunate that he missed that shot.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn
Dorian Finney-Smith (10) is fouled by Vanderbilt forward Rod Odom (0) during the Gators’ 57-54 win against the Commodores on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.
