NASHVILLE — Tyler Tanner scored 20 points as 22nd-ranked, fourth-seeded Vanderbilt beat fourth-ranked, top-seeded Florida 91-74 on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena, ending the reigning national champion’s bid to win a second straight Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament title and possibly hurting the Gators’ bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I tournament.
The 68-team bracket for March Madness will be revealed Sunday evening on CBS, not long after the Commodores (26-7) and 17th-ranked, third-seeded Arkansas (25-8) meet in the SEC title matchup on ESPN. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Eastern.
The Commodores — who will enter with a slight edge in rest after playing Saturday’s first semifinal and cruising without needing overtime, as the Razorbacks did to get past No. 15 seed Ole Miss in the second semifinal — is going for its first SEC tournament title since 2012. With the championship showdown taking place just a couple miles away from the Vanderbilt campus and the Commodores’ own Memorial Gymnasium, second-year head coach Mark Byington is hoping to maximize the hometown advantage or his team.
“I hope there is a lot of black and gold in Bridgestone tomorrow,” he said at the end of his postgame news conference. “Buy out the tickets, get in there. Buy them now before they figure out the result of this next game. If you can get the message out there, Vandy fans, let’s pack it up.”
Four other Vanderbilt players joined Tanner by scoring in double figures Saturday, with Jalen Washington adding 17 points, Duke Miles 15, Devin McGlockton 12 and AK Okereke 11. Six players for the Commodores made at least one 3-pointer, and everyone who played scored at least a bucket.