It was good to see senior forward Canyon Barry much further along Wednesday in his recovery from an ankle sprain.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Looking back, it was a bad loss that spawned a lot of good.On Jan. 21, Vanderbilt came to Gainesville on a four-game tailspin, while No. 19 Florida was coming off a dreadful shooting performance at South Carolina and first Southeastern Conference loss. But the Gators were back home in their posh new Exactech Arena and everything would be right again ... until the Commodores absolutely carved up the Gators' defense, rained in a bunch of 3-pointers and left the O'Dome with a 68-66 victory.It was an upset, to be sure, but the way it upset the Florida program in the form of some serious self-reflection is the reason the 12th-ranked Gators (24-6, 14-3) sit where they do today — a game out of first place the Southeastern Conference standings — as they look toward Saturday's rematch with the Commodores (16-14, 9-8) and regular-season finale at Memorial Gymnasium."I think we were kind of lax in our mentality and they took it to us at home, which definitely hurt us down the road and potentially cost us an SEC championship," fifth-year senior forwardsaid. "I think we learned from it, adapted and came together as a team and kind of kick-started our energy [and] our defense again."A lengthy, from-the-heart, spill-it-all team meeting followed that loss and from it emerged a recommitment to some fundamental things; namely, defense and unselfish play. Those have been the UF calling cards in rolling to 10 wins over the last 11 games and now they'll be tested against the very team that forced the midseason soul search.Gators coachwas asked Friday about adjustments that needed to be made from that game to this one."Not a lot of adjustments," White said. "Just have to do a few things better."Vandy's offense is ranked a mere 11th among the SEC's 14 teams, yet the Commodores can make some really good defenses look ill-prepared because of their ability to spread teams out and hit 3-point shots. The Commodores lead the SEC in 3-point field-goal percentage (.384) and 3s per game (10.1). Seven players in their rotation who have hit at least 22 treys (two more than UF) and three with at least 49 (also two more than the Gators), including 7-foot-1 Luke Kornet, who is a match-up nightmare.How can the Commodores hurt a team?Example: Florida misses a 3-point shot in its half court. Vandy gathers the long rebound and is off in transition. Center, known for his energy and hustle, sprints down the floor to get back on defense, with his natural inclination and instinct sending him to the post — because that's where he plays. Kornet, though, goes to a wing. By the time Hayes redirects and challenges the shot, Kornet has let fly an open 3-ball.Example 2: The Commodores are very patient in the half court and will work opponents to death with their three-man weave. If a defender goes under one screen or misses a switch and, say, either point guard Riley LaChance (the SEC's top 3-point sniper at 49 percent) or shooting guard Matthew Fisher-Davis (Vandy's leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, plus a 39-percent marksman from keep) will have what White likes to call a "H-O-R-S-E" shot. As in an open look.Defending the Commodores doesn't take great athleticism, but it does take great discipline. Defenders who overhelp or gamble and lose are going to surrender open shots. If they over-guard and foul, Vandy is the best free-throw shooting team in the league.The best way to avoid breakdowns is to talk. And in Memoria Gyml, grown-up voices are necessary."Just communicate," Barry said. "We didn't guard their actions well, didn't talk on defense, and gave up open 3s to some of the best shooters in the conference. Going into this game, the game plan's pretty much the same, just got to be better on defense, talk a lot more and just communicate."In the first meeting, the Gators weren't particular good on offense, either. They finished with their lowest scoring output in of the 10 home games, thanks to 44.8 percent shooting, went just 8-for-26 from deep (.308) and attempted only eight free throws.The UF offense got a boost in Wednesday night's win over Arkansas, with a healthy version of Barry, who was hobbled and held to three points the previous two games with a sore ankle, and the reemergence of redshirt freshman forward, who snapped out of his six-week funk with eight points off the bench. It was a game with a spread-out box score. The way the Gators like it.Now, if only the Vandy box score can have the kind of defensive numbers the Gators (and their coach) like."I don't know if we have seven, eight guys that can guard all of Vandy's stuff. I don't know if we have 5," White said. "We're going to do our best, but again, they expose you and we'll see in a hurry [Saturday] afternoon who's capable of defending these guys."