Live Blog: No. 15 Vanderbilt Basketball vs. Oklahoma

After a midweek bye, Vanderbilt looks to make it four in a row.

Jan 31, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke (10) lays the ball in against the Mississippi Rebels during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Can Vanderbilt continue its winning ways?

After a week off from the midweek bye, No. 15 Vanderbilt is back in action Saturday afternoon as the Commodores welcome the Oklahoma Sooners to Memorial Gymnasium.

Vanderbilt comes in on a three-game winning streak with wins against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss. It also finds itself just one game back of Texas A&M and Florida for first place in the SEC. Texas A&M dropped its second conference game of the season Wednesday with a loss at Alabama.

A win today and Vanderbilt’s pursuit for a SEC regular season title puts more pressure on the other teams at the top. Saturday is a good opportunity for that to become a reality.

Oklahoma arrives in Nashville on a nine-game losing streak. The Sooners won their first SEC game against Ole Miss on Jan. 3, but have not won a game since then. Their record has dropped from 11-3 to 11-12 and in a desperate search for an identity.

A couple of those games have been close losses to formidable teams like Arkansas and Alabama, but Oklahoma has not been the team it looked like during nonconference play.

For Vanderbilt, beating Oklahoma is a game it should win. But strange things have happened in college basketball this week between two different major upsets. A 10-12 Minnesota team knocked off No. 10 Michigan State and No. 6 Gonzaga was stunned by 10-14 Portland. The bottom line is that Vanderbilt has to take Oklahoma seriously.

Tipoff between Vanderbilt and Oklahoma is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

Follow the live blog here for live updates from today’s Vanderbilt-Oklahoma game.

Live Blog

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2nd Half

• Vanderbilt has not been able to cut into the lead that much. Oklahoma still leads 64-47 at the under 12 media timeout. The Commodores need to go on a run soon before time runs out.

• The final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half are among the most important minutes in a game. Vanderbilt has been outscored 26-11 since the 4:24 mark of the first half. 59-40 Oklahoma.

• Oklahoma comes out and hits two early threes to get the largest lead of the game to 18 points. Certainly not how Vanderbilt wanted to start this half.

1st Half

• HALF: Oklahoma scores on its final possession of the half and Vanderbilt is unable to match it. Commodores trail 48-34 at the half after they cut the deficit to four points earlier.

• A 13-2 Oklahoma run has given the Sooners a 46-31 lead. Brutal mistakes have been made as the first half nears a close.

• Vanderbilt's got this game down to six points now. Clearly, Vanderbilt made adjustments defensively because the takeaways have ticked way up and Oklahoma is having to work much harder to get quality shots. And of course, Tyler Tanner has been able to get out in transition.

• Vanderbilt goes on a 7-0 run and the crowd is back into the game. A couple of takeaways were turned into field goals on the other end for Vanderbilt and the deficit is quickly down to 26-17. Okereke did get his third foul, however.

• It's 24-10 Oklahoma. I did not imagine Vanderbilt to come out this flat on both sides of the floor. The shotmaking has not been great and defensively the Commodores are giving Okahoma plenty of open shots.

• This is not a time for Vanderbilt to panic. Oklahoma started up 19-6 against Texas last week and led Alabama by 11 at halftime earlier this season and ended up losing both games. However, it does not excuse the way Vanderbilt has started today.

• Certainly not the start Vanderbilt was hoping for. AK Okereke's got two fouls, Jalen Washington has a foul as well. It's 11-2 Oklahoma three minutes into this game.

Pregame

• Something to watch for today I think is how Vanderbilt comes out after a week off. Do the Commodores start a little slower than normal or do they pick up where they have left off recently?

• Tyler Nickel was drilling threes from long range early in warmups.

• This is Vanderbilt’s third consecutive game at home. Certainly a prime spot to be in at the middle of SEC play where Vanderbilt has been able to stay home and rest for a while. But of course that comes with the fact that Vanderbilt will have to end its regular season with a road gauntlet.

• Players for both teams are on the court for early warmups and shootaround. Vanderbilt is coming off its midweek bye that was much needed in terms of health. The Commodores are hoping to pick up where it left off a week ago where they beat Ole Miss 71-68 and won their third game in a row.