Freije scored 23 points, Mario Moore added 21 and Smith had 12 of his season-high 14 points after a hard foul in the second half to help No. 23 Vanderbilt end a two-game losing skid with an 86-72 victory over 15th-ranked Florida Saturday night.
``We needed something good to happen,'' Stallings said of a team that followed the best start in school history by losing on the road at Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Gators (11-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) came in on a six-game winning streak and were looking to start SEC play 3-0 for the third straight year. They had every reason to be confident, having won five straight over the Commodores.
But Vanderbilt (13-2, 2-2) responded to their return to Memorial Gym, where the first sellout crowd of the season kept the Gators from getting too comfortable in a gym where they had won three straight.
The fans flooded the court after the final buzzer and even shredded an alligator doll in celebration. Florida coach Billy Donovan said his young Gators still have to learn how to play on the road.
``It was a great crowd because Vanderbilt played great,'' Donovan said. ``They gave them something to cheer about for 40 minutes.''
Moore made five of six 3-pointers as Vandy hit 10-of-15 3s and forced Florida into a season-high 24 turnovers, which the Commodores turned into easy lay-ups and dunks. Vandy committed only five of its 13 turnovers in the second half and outshot the Gators 52.7 percent (29-of-55) to 51.2 percent (22-of-43).
Matt Walsh led the Gators with 16 points, followed by David Lee with 15.
Freije, the SEC's preseason player of the year, set the tone early for Vanderbilt. He snapped out of his slump by scoring as many points in the first half (15) as he had in any of the previous six games, and he credited time spent with Stallings on Thursday for settling him down.
``We just sat down and talked, made sure we were on the same page. Obviously, it worked. Maybe I should be spending a lot more time with him,'' Freije said.
While Freije got the Commodores going, it was Smith who took over after Walsh fouled him and knocked him to the floor as he went to the basket early in the second half. Smith, who had to be restrained by an assistant coach when he got up, said he was upset Walsh didn't offer him a hand.
``When he walked off, I took that personally. I wanted to let him know I wasn't going to take it,'' Smith said.
Walsh said he didn't mean to hurt Smith.
``I just wanted to play hard and get my team going. When you're on the road in a hostile environment, there are no easy buckets on both sides,'' Walsh said.
Florida led 40-34 when Vandy took control for good with an 18-4 run started by Freije's three-point play.
Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers from the left corner, then stole the ball and passed to Moore, who was fouled and hit both free throws for a 45-44 lead Vandy's first lead since 29-28 in the first half.
Smith came up with another steal, and Russell Lakey finished the fast break with a layup. Smith scored again with a three-point play, and Dawid Przybyszewski's one-hander capped the spurt for a 52-44 lead with 12:20 left. Smith also had a team-high seven rebounds.
``It was the Corey Smith show,'' Freije said.
Vanderbilt eventually led by as many as 19 points, 81-62, on a pair of free throws by Freije with 2:25 to go.
Freije scored seven in an 11-0 run, including a pair of 3s, and Moore's 3-pointer put Vanderbilt up 29-20 with 4:57 remaining in the first half. The Gators rallied for a 32-31 lead with their own 11-0 spurt.
Anthony Roberson finished with 13 points for Florida, and Chris Richard had 12.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/1/165433