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Vanderbilt moves to 14-3 under Mark Byington with upset of #6 Tennessee

After turning around Georgia Southern and James Madison in the mid major ranks, Mark Byington made the jump to the power conference level this offseason. Bringing in a full roster of transfers, not much was expected of the Commodores. After Saturday’s upset win over Tennessee though, it’s safe to say Vanderbilt has the NCAA Tournament within its reach.

The turning point on Saturday came in the first half, when Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler followed Vanderbilt guard Jason Edwards on a three-point shot with 7:10 to go in the half. The foul was Zeigler’s second, sending him to the bench and the three free throws brought Vanderbilt within two. Trailing 26-21 before the foul, Vanderbilt finished the half on a 20-9 run to take a 41-35 lead into the halftime break.

Tennessee scored the first five out of the break with Zeigler back on the floor, but then Vanderbilt went on a tear. Four consecutive three-pointers went down, two from Edwards and two from Tyler Nickel. Vanderbilt would stretch the lead out to 68-52, but the Vols still had a push in them.

After two AJ Hoggard free throws with 3:48 to go, Vanderbilt would fail to score for the rest of the game. A 10-point deficit for Tennessee went to eight, then six, then four, then two. Tennessee had the ball trailing 76-74 with 11 seconds to play. Chaz Lanier went to the rim in the final moments but had his shot blocked by Chris Manon of Vanderbilt.

Tyler Tanner went to the line after Vanderbilt secured the rebound with a chance to clinch the game. Tanner did possibly the worst thing you could do as a free throw shooter, missing the front end of the one-and-one before fouling Lanier on the rebound. Lanier couldn’t avenge his earlier miss though, sinking the first free throw before the second one came off the rim. 76-75 was the final, and soon the court was crowded with rowdy Vanderbilt students, ecstatic with their team’s upset over their in-state rivals and sixth-ranked Tennessee.

Jason Edwards has been the leading scorer for the Commodores this season at 17.1 ppg, but it’s an otherwise very balanced squad with eight transfers and a true freshman making up the rotation. AJ Hoggard (11.1 ppg, 4.4 apg), the Michigan State transfer, has handled the primary ball handling duties, but freshman Tyler Tanner (6.4 ppg, 2.3 spg) and Davidson transfer Grant Huffman (4.9 ppg) have had a positive impact in the backcourt as well.

Devin McGlockton (10.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg) has been the go-to big for Vanderbilt this season, having a productive year after transferring in from Boston College. Jaylen Carey (7.4 ppg), who followed Byington from James Madison, had maybe his best game as a Commodore on Saturday, recording a 14-point double-double in the win.

Rounding out on the wings, Virginia Tech transfers Tyler Nickel (10.1 ppg) and MJ Collins (7.9 ppg) have had good starts to life in Nashville, while Cornell transfer Chris Manon has been elite defensively, recording 18 steals and 11 blocks (including a big one late on Chaz Lanier) in the last eight games.

After taking James Madison to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament last year, Byington is looking to take Vanderbilt to the dance in his first year and the first time since 2017. At 14-3, the Commodores have no bad losses, and now boast wins over Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina, TCU and Nevada, a far cry from where this program had been after last year’s 9-23 mark.

In the gauntlet of the SEC there’s a long way to go, but Vanderbilt has won three of five and now carry the momentum of this top ten win with them the rest of the way.

Other Things to Note:

• Javon Small’s 27 points leads West Virginia past #2 Iowa State 64-57
• #4 Alabama takes down #8 Kentucky at Rupp Arena behind 25 points from Grant Nelson
• Xavier holds off #7 Marquette on the road to pick up season-altering 59-57 win
• Tyeree Bryan’s 35 points stuns #16 Gonzaga as Santa Clara wins 103-99 on the road
• Big Ten heavyweights clash at the Breslin Center as #19 Illinois meets #12 Michigan State (12:00 ET, CBS)