As UF senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. continues to work his way back from an ankle injury, junior guard Denzel Aberdeen was thrusted into the starting lineup for the first time in his collegiate career with a raucous home crowd behind him.
The stakes were not only high for Aberdeen, but also for a Florida team that was in need of a bounce-back victory after dropping just its third game of the season over the weekend.
With two minutes left in regulation, the Orlando native calmly stepped to the line and drilled a free throw that not only capped off a solid performance, but pushed UF’s lead to 12 and allowed the Gators to never look back.
Following a loss to then-No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday, the No. 6 Gators (19-3, 6-3 SEC) responded with an 86-75 victory over Vanderbilt (16-6, 4-5 SEC) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Tuesday.
“I thought [Aberdeen] was fantastic,” UF head coach Todd Golden said. “Thirty-five minutes tonight, no turnovers. Did an incredible job controlling the game.”
Senior guard Will Richard led all scorers with 21 points, but his performance stretched beyond shooting the ball. Richard snagged seven rebounds and dished out three assists while going 8-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from distance.
UF sophomore forward Alex Condon followed with 19 points and nine rebounds. Aberdeen added 13 points in place of Clayton Jr., along with three assists.
Florida’s defense turned Vandy over twice in the opening minute, while Richard began the scoring with a 3-pointer from the left wing that created an ear-ringing crowd pop in the O’Dome.
However, with 17:19 left in the first half, junior guard Tyler Nickel knocked down a top-of-the-key 3-pointer following a pair of Vandy offensive rebounds, giving the Commodores their first lead, 8-5.
As the Gators found themselves in a tightly contested matchup early on, Aberdeen got things going to keep UF afloat. The junior guard knocked down a mid-range jumper that knotted the score at 19 apiece just over 10 minutes in.
“It felt great,” Aberdeen said. “I’m more thankful that we got the win. Everybody came together, everybody stepped up.”
Less than one minute later, Aberdeen buried a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc with the shot clock winding down, giving Florida a three-point advantage. Three lead changes later, UF sophomore forward Thomas Haugh made a 3-pointer that tied the score at 29 with 5:43 remaining in the first half.
With under three minutes left, Florida took a 33-31 lead on an inbound from Martin that went nearly 94 feet before it found Condon, who finished with a layup. However, a layup and free throw by junior guard Jason Edwards allowed Vandy to take a 36-35 lead into halftime.
“They’re one of the better teams in America at creating steals, live ball turnovers,” Golden said. “That was our biggest issue in the first half, you know? We did not take care of it well enough.”
The first minutes of the second half were seemingly just as competitive as the entire opening period. Vanderbilt took a three-point advantage less than one minute in before Richard quickly answered with a 3-pointer to knot the score at 38.
Less than two minutes later, Richard threw down a dunk that gave the Gators their first lead of the second half, 42-40, before UF junior forward Sam Alexis came off the bench and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer as Florida led 52-50 with 11:54 remaining in regulation.
“It was definitely a big adversity test,” Richard said. “But we came in with the mindset of next man up and our guys off the bench came in and did a great job of keeping us going and keeping us in that same rhythm.”
It didn’t appear that either side would pull away down the stretch. That was, until UF sophomore guard Urban Klavzar provided a massive spark off the bench.
The Domzale, Slovenia, native drained back-to-back 3-pointers, sending the O’Dome into a frenzy while kickstarting an 8-0 run for UF. Martin capped the scoring spurt off with a 2-point jumper that gave the Gators a 65-54 lead.
“That little run in the second half where [Klavzar] hit those two threes back-to-back… was just huge for us,” Golden said. “A big lift in the time where we needed it the most.”
Both sides were hot offensively. The Gators shot 31-of-54 (57%) from the floor to Vanderbilt’s 51% clip. However, UF’s 3-point shooting (10-of-21, 48%) was a clear cut above Vandy’s 6-for-19 (32%) mark.
Defensively, Florida forced 11 turnovers and turned them into 13 points. Additionally, Condon set the tone with two blocks and was a major factor in UF out-rebounding Vandy 35-29.
Next up, Florida may have its most difficult matchup of the season. The Gators will head to Auburn to take on the No. 1 Tigers on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
