Live Blog: No. 11 Vanderbilt Basketball vs. LSU

Vanderbilt looks to tie program history with a win Saturday afternoon.

Jan 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Duke Miles (2) yells to the crowd after the win against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt is looking to tie program history today.

The 15-0 Commodores roll into Memorial Gymnasium today looking to tie their best start in program history with a win against the LSU Tigers today. Vanderbilt last got off to a 16-0 start to a season during the 2007-2008 season. A little under two decades later, Vanderbilt has a chance to do it again with what could be one of its best teams yet. 

Vanderbilt went through a nonconference slate that left plenty of people still questioning how good it really was. But on Wednesday, Vanderbilt silenced plenty of haters as the Commodores got a resume-defining win at home against No. 13 Alabama.

There may still be some people still questioning Vanderbilt, but it does not matter. All it has done is look at the next game in front of it and play the best it possibly can game in and game out.

“I mean, they are going to say something. So here’s what we can do: if we can control what we control, we’re playing the games on our schedule and our guys did a good job of staying focused. I know quad I wins are important. I think we got a good amount of them already,” Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said after Vanderbilt's 96-90 win over the Crimson Tide.

As with any game in the SEC, it will not be an easy win for Vanderbilt. Though LSU is off to a 0-2 start in conference play, it still went on the road to Texas A&M a week ago and fell just short of a win. But what is good news for Vanderbilt, however, is that LSU is likely going to be without its leading scorer with an injury, Dedan Thomas Jr. Thomas Jr. has led the Tigers this season with 16.2 points per game.

Vanderbilt’s back court guards will look to take advantage of that Saturday with history on the line. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

Follow the live blog here for live updates from tonight’s Vanderbilt-LSU game.

Live Blog

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2nd Half

• FINAL: Vanderbilt wins 84-73 to move to 16-0 on the season. I expect to see Vanderbilt jump into the top 10 when the new rankings come Monday afternoon.

• Vanderbilt is going to come away victorious and tie program history with a 16-0 start to the season. Vanderbilt leads 83-73 with 20 seconds to go.

• Tyler Tanner just has a knack for taking games over it feels like. Here he is again with another great drive to the basket to make it 76-63 with six minutes remaining.

• Tyler Tanner with a couple big plays to get the lead back up to double digits. Vanderbilt has not had a half it would desire to half this time around, but the Commodores are holding onto a 11-point lead nonetheless with 7:49 to go in the game.

• LSU on a 10-0 now and has cut the lead to 59-50 with 13 minutes to go. Tempers have started to flare a little as something was said between the two teams.

• Vanderbilt maintaining its lead of 14 over LSU right now. Both teams trading baskets right now in a 58-44 game.

1st Half

• HALF: Vanderbilt goes into the locker room up 52-38. A great half offensively. Give credit to LSU for shooting the ball well the first 20 minutes despite Vanderbilt forcing turnovers. Commodores will look to finish this out in the final 20 minutes.

• Vanderbilt got the lead up to 20, but LSU goes on a 9-0 run to cut it to 11 before Jalen Washington hit a layup while being fouled. I really like Vanderbilt's ball pressure on defense right now. It is coming away with plenty of steals, but the Commodores were maybe a little too aggressive on the 9-0 run for LSU. Vanderbilt needs to stop giving up open looks and good looks from the perimeter, LSU is 6-for-13 despite Vanderbilt leading 41-28.

• And just like that Nickel drills another three and Duke Miles follows in Nickel's footsteps the next trip down the floor. It is now 31-14 Vanderbilt as LSU calls a timeout. The Crowd is very much in this game along with the players.

• Tyler Nickel continuing to shoot well as he hits another three before Duke Miles runs the floor and hits a midrange jumper. Vanderbilt 23-12 right now. Commodores' defense starting to get settled into this one as the offense heats up.

• Vanderbilt up 13-7 early on as Tyler Nickel hit a three while being fouled. He will have the opportunity to complete a four-point play on the other side of the media timeout.

Pregame

• I watched Tyler Harris and Tyler Nickel closely in warmups. Both were red hot from the perimeter. Could that indicate a big day for either of them today?

• The crowd has quickly filed up here as Vanderbilt is set to tipoff 20 minutes from now. I saw some LSU fans in the crowd, but not as many as there were Alabama fans the other day.

• Both teams are on the court for pregame shootaround as we hit 90 minutes before tipoff. It should be interesting to see what the crowd looks like today. Vanderbilt fans brought the energy the other night and probably will again today.