The last time UF headed to Nashville, it was chaos.
On Feb. 17, 2007, almost exactly a year ago, the top-ranked Gators took a 17-game win streak into Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt stunned and embarrassed UF 83-70, but the score was hardly the story.
At the game's conclusion, fans filed out of their seats and stormed the oddly designed court, climbing onto the elevated hardwood and creating bedlam as the teams searched for the exits.
One UF player, former guard Brandon Powell, got caught up in the mix. Powell was seen on tape punching a Vanderbilt fan. The guard was suspended and eventually transferred to Marshall this past off-season.
Naturally, you would think UF would be out for revenge Saturday, when the Gators (19-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) take on No. 24 Vanderbilt (21-4, 6-4 SEC), but in reality it's the Commodores who have vengeance on their minds.
This Gators team, devoid of most of the players involved in last year's contest, throttled then-No. 14 Vanderbilt 86-64 just a few weeks ago.
"It's going to be a dog fight out there," UF forward Chandler Parsons said. "I'm sure they're not going to have good feelings toward us knowing that we beat them by 20 once before."
Guard Jai Lucas echoed that sentiment.
"I'm pretty sure they're looking for vengeance playing us the second time," Lucas said. "We really just have to be focused."
Vanderbilt is 15-0 at home this year and, in its last game, exacted revenge on a Kentucky team they lost to earlier this season. The Commodores embarrassed the Wildcats to the tune of a 41-point blowout on national TV, a game where Kentucky had a mere 11 points at halftime.
If UF hopes to avoid a similar fate, the Gators will have to reverse their recent downward spiral.
UF has lost three of its last four games, all by double digits. Coach Billy Donovan said he's seen progress from his team during its struggles.
He said the team played poorly against Arkansas but responded well against No. 4 Tennessee and were simply outplayed by LSU.
At the heart of UF's recent troubles has been defense. The Gators allowed LSU to shoot 60 percent in Wednesday's 85-73 defeat, and are allowing over 80 points per game in their six losses.
"I don't even think we should talk about offense," Donovan said. "We don't absorb (defense), understand it, embrace it or believe in it right now."
As Donovan predicted, the players continue to say the right things. Both Parsons and Lucas spoke about the importance of buckling down on both ends of the court.
"We're not going to beat anybody without stopping anybody," Parsons said. "It has to become our No. 1 priority. We understand that it needs to be for us to be successful, but we're just not really doing it."
