In an Impressive Season, Vanderbilt Basketball Just Got Its Most Impressive Win Yet; Column

The outlier 3-point percentage had preceded Tyler Harris all offseason as he went in and out of Vanderbilt’s Huber Center each day for practice and individual workouts. If there’s a trait of Harris’ that was easily identifiable outside of his wiry, NBA-like frame, it was his nearly 50% 3-point shooting at Washington.

A trait like that doesn’t go away–it’s like riding a bike–but it seemed to leave Harris’ repertoire for a while. Perhaps it was confidence. Perhaps it was rhythm. Maybe it was the residual of a preseason ankle injury that kept Harris out of Vanderbilt’s final preseason exhibition. Whatever the case, something was preventing Harris from stepping up to the line with his unorthodox release and throwing it in like he did a year ago.

As Harris caught it in the corner opposite the Wake Forest bench in the first half of Saturday’s game and released it, a collective sigh appeared to hang over LJVM Coliseum. Then, it went in.

Tyler Harris — Harris went for 14 points on Sunday. | Gavin Nevill

The day was far from perfect for Harris–who went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc on the way to a 14-point performance–but it was healing in some ways. At the very least, it was confidence inducing.

Harris’ make from the corner was a microcosm of the meaning of Vanderbilt’s 98-67 win over Wake Forest on Sunday. It was as confidence-inducing of a performance as Vanderbilt could’ve hoped for as it looked to rebound from a performance in an 11-point win over Central Arkansas that Mark Byington said would get his team beat by 40 if it happened against Memphis and a performance against Memphis that wasn’t much better despite the final score.

"Our guys kind of heard some things. People were doubting us a little bit,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said in his postgame radio hit. “My guys were ready to play today. Credit to them. It was fun to coach them.”

Sunday was as much fun as it’s been for this Vanderbilt team to this point. It’s also as close to perfect as this group has been as it’s gotten out to a 12-0 start in Byington’s second season at the helm. Everything was working for Vanderbilt basketball on Sunday.

The afternoon included a Tyler Tanner dunk that could be printed on a poster, a career day from Tyler Nickel in which the TV commentators said he was so hot that he was “not even thinking right now, he’s just catching and redirecting the ball to the basket,” a non-chalant block by Devin McGlockton that pinned the ball between the rim and the glass as well as a made 3 from Mike James–who has often had to take a backseat in favor of Vanderbilt’s other guards.

Vanderbilt's standout performance also included it holding Wake Forest to 35.2% shooting from the field, 19.0% shooting from 3-point range and Wake Forest star Juke Harris to just 4-for-15 shooting.

"Intensity," Nickel--who had three blocks--said of the key to the performance. "Just so much energy, so much attention to detail. We want our defense to feel suffocating, like you just can't get anything going. Just being loud, helping each other, I think we were firing on all cylinders."

Steve Forbes’ Wake Forest team is perhaps Forbes’ most talented team since taking over the program in 2020, yet it didn’t look like that on Sunday. The same team that took No. 1 Michigan to the wire and did the same to No. 19 Texas Tech was completely demoralized by Byington’s team. That was a team that could’ve competed with Vanderbilt, seriously. Vanderbilt was better in every aspect, though. It was borderline dominant. If this was summer basketball or high school, the referees would’ve turned to a running clock and may have turned the scoreboard off as this thing finished.

Byington’s team shot 59.3% from the field, 50% from 3-point range, recorded 23 assists to 12 turnovers and led by as much as 34 en route to its 12th win of the season. It was the type of performance that defies the law of averages and indicates that when this Vanderbilt team has it going, it can beat anyone in the country.

“We wanted to send a message going into the break towards the end of non-con,” Nickel said, “And really send a message.”

Sunday was a performance as dominant as Vanderbilt has put together all season, and it’s 12-0 with all but one of its wins coming by double-digits. To go on the road and to do something like that without Frankie Collins in the fallout of two lackluster performances says something about this Vanderbilt team and the leadership that has galvanized it.

By the end, it deserved to celebrate in the way it did as freshman big man Jayden Leverett knocked down a corner 3 in front of the Vanderbilt bench. That moment included Mason Nicholson holding George Kimble back, a bright smile from AK Okereke and the rest of Vanderbilt’s starters looking like they wanted to storm the court in Winston Salem while the team’s reserves made up the lineup on the floor.

That moment is just one of a few that make this one special.