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Florida 82, Vanderbilt 78: Gators survive hail of threes thanks to late heroics

Another night of hard play and hard luck for the 2021-22 Florida Gators men’s basketball team finally had a season that has teetered toward the abyss for months on end looking like it was down to its last breaths.

Try as they might, the Gators could not stay in front of Vanderbilt — most specifically, Scotty Pippen, Jr. — and could not keep up with the Commodores’ rain of threes. The Gators answered a 17-2 run by Vanderbilt midway through the second half with their own 14-3 push — only for Pippen and Trey Thomas (5-for-7 from distance on the night) to hit consecutive threes that left Florida down eight with just under four minutes to play.