GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) Hanging onto a slim lead and trying to put a game away, No. 21 Florida came through this time.
Led by 25 points each from Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson, the Gators made 21 straight free throws in the second half Saturday night to snap a two-game losing streak with an 81-71 victory over Vanderbilt.
The finish was quite different from Tuesday night, when Florida (14-6, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) let an 11-point lead slip away in a 68-65 home loss to Kentucky and didn't score over the final three minutes.
"We were just waiting for the time to run out" against the Wildcats, Walsh said. "Tonight, we were going after the press instead of just trying to hold on."
Able to break the Vandy press, the Gators got plenty of opportunities from the free-throw line. Walsh went 14-for-14 and made all 10 of his attempts over the final 3½ minutes. Roberson went 6-for-7, including six straight over the final 2:25.
Vanderbilt (14-5, 3-5) lost its 13th straight road conference game. Coach Kevin Stallings said there were opportunities to foul players besides Roberson and Walsh, but the Commodores didn't take advantage of them.
"That still wasn't what sealed our fate," Stallings said. "That was in the aftermath, after we were desperate."
Florida led from beginning to end, but the game was never comfortable. Roberson, who was held to three points in the first half, made three straight 3-pointers to help the Gators to a 13-point lead early in the second.
But Vandy kept it close. The Commodores trimmed the deficit to 61-56 and forced Florida into a bad situation - inbounding the ball under the basket with three seconds left on the shot clock. Roberson got free, however, made it to the corner and hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night for an eight-point lead with 2:50 left.
From there, it turned into a free-throw-shooting contest, and Florida more than responded. The Gators made 25 of 26 in the second half, and the only miss came from Christian Drejer with 23 seconds remaining.
Donovan puts his players through a tough free-throw drill at the end of each practice, forcing them to hit 18 of 24 from the line before calling it a day. If they don't succeed, they have to run sprints.
"That's what we do to try to create some kind of pressure," he said.
Matt Freije had 18 points to lead Vandy, which defeated Florida at home last month and Kentucky at home last Saturday, but still hasn't won an SEC road game since 2002.
"It's frustrating because we lost tonight," Stallings said. "But that's got nothing to do with the last one we lost or the one before that. Last year, we weren't a very good team. Bad teams don't win on the road. We'd like to think we're better this year."
Walsh and Roberson made up for a bad game by Florida forward David Lee, who went 0-for-3 and finished with four points in 31 minutes. Starting center Adrian Moss had 10 points and seven rebounds. Gators center Bonell Colas served the first of a three-game suspension for violating university policy.
Vandy got 16 points and a nice floor game from Mario Moore. Over the final 90 seconds, Moore made a 3-pointer and a tough 14-foot jumper, and Corey Smith hit a 3 to keep the game within reach and put pressure on the Gators at the line.
"It's another road game where we are there at the end, but we just can't make the plays and the other team does," Freije said.
The game was the 2,000th in Florida history. The Gators are 1,045-955.
