Florida hands Vanderbilt its 26th straight SEC loss

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Keyontae Johnson scored 20 points and Florida handed Vanderbilt its 26th consecutive Southeastern Conference loss, adding to the Commodores’ dubious league record, beating them 61-55 on Saturday night.

Noah Locke added 17 points, including five 3-pointers for the Gators (13-8, 5-3 SEC).

Vanderbilt (8-13, 0-8) struggled from 3-point range early, missing their first seven 3-point shots before finishing 6 of 22 from beyond the arc.

The Commodores committed 17 turnovers as they suffered their ninth straight loss overall.

Scotty Pippen Jr. led the Commodores with 15 points and Saben Lee added 11.

The Gators ended their three-game losing streak.

Vanderbilt got a roar from the crowd when it narrowed the deficit to 55-49 with just over 2 minutes left.

Lee’s layup through traffic cut the margin to 58-53 with 23.8 seconds left.

Florida took charge with a 10-0 run early in the first half.

BIG PICTURE

Florida: The Gators led most of the way against the injury-plagued Commodores.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores continue to struggle without Aaron Nesmith (foot injury) and Clevon Brown (knee). Nesmith was leading the SEC in scoring when a stress fracture knocked him out of the lineup on Jan. 11.

HONOREES

Vanderbilt honored its 1992-93 Sweet 16 team at halftime. The Commodores won their first SEC title since 1974 that year.

Eddie Fogler was named national coach of the year.

UP NEXT

Florida hosts Georgia (12-9, 2-6) on Wednesday. Georgia freshman Anthony Edwards is coming off a 29-point, 15-rebound game against Texas A&M.

Vanderbilt hosts No. 22 LSU (17-4, 8-0), which has won 10 straight, on Wednesday.

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