The Florida Gators took a halftime lead against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, but they weren’t able to hold Vandy off – ultimately losing the game 87-95 at the Memorial Gym in Nashville. This was the first time since 2001 that the Gators have lost an SEC opener. The Gators are now 11-4 on the season… still not bad considering how young this team is.

There were several positives of the game, one of them being Kenny Boynton. He had a career-best 28 points, shooting 10-of-21 from the field and six-of-14 from behind the arc, also adding four assists and three rebounds. Another positive was Dan Werner’s 4 steals and Erving Walker’s 22 points and 6 assists. I really love the way these young guys like Walker and Boynton play the game.

I noticed Vernon Macklin only had 14 minutes of playing time. I didn’t watch the game on Saturday, but he might have been limited because of his size. It looks like Billy Donovan went with a smaller team to keep up with Vandy’s quick style of offense.

The Gators continue SEC play as they host No. 3 Kentucky at the O’Connell Center on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET.