GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida point guard Walter Clayton Jr. sat out Tuesday night’s 86-75 win over Vanderbilt.
The sixth-ranked Gators ruled Clayton out about an hour before the opening tip. Denzel Aberdeen started in his place, and finished with 13 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Clayton rolled his ankle late in the first half of a lopsided loss at then-No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday. He returned to start the second half but slipped in front of the bench to give coach Todd Golden and his teammates another scare.
Clayton finished with 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting. He had no assists and three turnovers in 27 minutes.
Golden said Monday that “we avoided anything too serious, which is awesome.” But Clayton’s ankle didn’t respond like the Gators had hoped, prompting them to take a cautious approach to his return.
Florida plays at top-ranked Auburn on Saturday.
Entering Tuesday, Clayton led Florida in scoring, averaging 17.4 points. He also led the team with 79 assists and ranked third with 28 steals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
