VANDERBILT

The Commodores (14-3) are off to a 3-0 start in league play, starting with a home win over a hot-shooting Florida team and the two wins on the road at Alabama and South Carolina.

Vanderbilt earned a 95-87 victory over Florida, but Commodores coach Kevin Stallings had some positive words on Monday about first-year Gators Kenny Boynton, Vernon Macklin and Erik Murphy.

Stallings praised Boynton, a freshman who scored a career-high 28 points in the conference-opening loss at Memorial Gym in Nashville, calling him a “very dangerous scorer.”

The Commodores didn’t see a lot of the other two first-year guys. Macklin and Murphy combined for 27 total minutes, six points and 10 personal fouls.

Up next: vs. Auburn, Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Previous game: Defeated South Carolina 89-79

FLORIDA

The Gators’ Thursday night game in Fayetteville will reunite UF coach Billy Donovan with one of his former assistants, John Pelphrey, who worked under Donovan for two years at Marshall (1994-96) before following him to Florida (1996-2002).

Pelphrey is 1-2 against Donovan since taking the reins at Arkansas (8-9, 1-1) two years ago.

Donovan said facing his former assistants such as Pelphrey and Alabama coach Anthony Grant is difficult and “not an enjoyable experience.”

The UF coach is optimistic about his team’s chances of improving. His players are starting to get healthy, which is important because having more players improves the quality of his practices.

“We’re still a work in progress,” Donovan said.

Florida (12-5, 1-2) is coming off its first SEC win on Saturday, a 72-58 victory over LSU.

Up next: at Arkansas, Thursday, 9 p.m.
Previous game: Defeated LSU 72-58

SOUTH CAROLINA

Gamecocks coach Darrin Horn said his team’s upcoming road game against Ole Miss is coming at a difficult time.

“We’re coming off a game where we didn’t defend and rebound at all,” Horn said.

The second-year coach is referring to Saturday’s 89-79 home loss against Vanderbilt, a team that Horn said is probably only second to Kentucky in the SEC in terms of overall talent.

Senior guard Devan Downey played very well against the Commodores, scoring a season-high 35 points to go with six steals, four assists and a team-high five rebounds. Horn said, however, that a guard should not be leading the team in rebounds.

“Hopefully (his teammates are) not standing around watching, thinking (Downey is) going to take care of that too,” Horn said.

Following Wednesday’s game at Ole Miss, South Carolina (11-6, 2-1) travels to Gainesville to play the Gators on Saturday.

Up next: at Ole Miss, Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Previous game: Lost to Vanderbilt, 89-79

GEORGIA

The young Bulldogs (8-8, 0-3) are still winless in the conference, losing their first three SEC games by close margins.

It’s not going to get any easier when No. 8 Tennessee comes to town on Saturday. The Vols have won six straight including a win over then-No. 1 Kansas.

Georgia coach Mark Fox is not happy with his team’s conference record, but he is encouraged that his team has been playing teams close. The Bulldogs have led at halftime in all three SEC losses, but fatigue has been an issue with the lack of experienced bench players.

“I have to give them credit for battling and putting us in a position to win,” Fox said. “We just have to learn how to finish.”

Up next: vs. Tennessee, Saturday, 5 p.m.
Previous game: Lost to Mississippi State 72-69

TENNESSEE

The eighth-ranked Vols (14-2, 2-0) made big news when they knocked off former No. 1 team Kansas last week, but the bigger news has come off the court for Tennessee this season when four players were arrested on gun and drug charges following a traffic stop on Jan. 1.

The incident led to the dismissal of star player Tyler Smith and suspensions for guards Melvin Goins and Cameron Tatum and center Brian Williams. Coach Bruce Pearl reinstated Goins and Tatum, but Williams remains on indefinite suspension.

When asked why Goins and Tatum were able to rejoin the team and not Williams, Pearl said “because of the degree of their involvement in the incident.”

Up next: At Alabama, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Previous game: Defeated Ole Miss 71-69, OT

KENTUCKY

John Calipari, coach of the undefeated, top-ranked Wildcats, is working on trying to keep his talented young team humble.

“We got a bunch of guys on our team that are told that basically they poop ice cream …” Calipari said. “When we were 19, when we were told we were the best thing since buttered bread, you start believing that stuff.”

Calipari said his team needs to stay hungry through its successes and is “not as good as everyone thinks we are.”

The Wildcats have an open date this week, but would rather be playing so they can keep their momentum.

Up next: vs. Arkansas, Saturday, 4 p.m.
Previous game: Defeated Auburn 72-67