Live Blog: No. 18 Vanderbilt Basketball vs. Ole Miss

After a schedule change, Vanderbilt stays home for its first matchup of the season with Ole Miss.

Jan 27, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke (10) reacts after a made three point basket against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Can Vanderbilt take advantage of a sudden schedule change that occurred late in the week and extend its winning streak?

Vanderbilt takes on Ole Miss in Nashville today after inclement weather in the state of Mississippi forced the two schools to swap home games and allow Vanderbilt to host the first matchup of the season rather than the second game against the Rebels.

Vanderbilt is coming into this evening riding high of two dominant wins against Mississippi State and Kentucky. The Commodores beat the Bulldogs by 32 before crushing the Wildcats by 25 on Tuesday night. Now, Vanderbilt looks to make it three in a row in an effort to stay in striking distance of the top spot in the SEC.

Vanderbilt sits just a game-and-a-half back on Texas A&M for first place in the conference. But Vanderbilt is also competing with Arkansas and Florida for the top of the conference as well. With the halfway point of conference point hitting after today, Vanderbilt has plenty of opportunity to get big wins down the stretch, but it needs to win the games it should win.

Today is one of those games. Ole Miss arrives in Nashville limping with a two-game losing streak as the Rebels lost to Auburn and Kentucky in its last two outings and have fallen to 11-9 on the season. Ole Miss now sits at 3-4 in conference play.

For Vanderbilt, a win here feels almost necessary in the sense of taking care of business. Vanderbilt has improved a lot defensively over the last week, and today could be another great chance for the Commodores defense to turn it up a notch. Ole Miss averages just 74.8 points per game, which ranks dead last in the SEC. If Vanderbilt is able to hold Ole Miss to its season averages or less, the Commodores will give themselves a great chance to win today.

Tipoff between Vanderbilt and Ole Miss is set for 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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

Live Blog

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2nd Half

• FINAL: Vanderbilt survives in the final seconds 71-68 as Ole Miss misses two threes in the final few seconds. Commodores hold on to win their third game in a row.

• Vanderbilt leads 70-65 with a minute left. Mike James has given some very productive minutes today in place of Duke Miles. James has hit a couple big threes today, including one just a minute ago.

• Vanderbilt has not been able to go on a run to pull away quite yet. Commodores up 65-59 with 3:33 remaining. Duke Miles' offense has certainly been missed today, but at the same time a strong defensive effort is usually what fans can expect to see from a Chris Beard team.

• Ole Miss is hanging around Vanderbilt right now as the Commodores lead 57-50 with 7:47 to go. Ole Miss has caught fire a little bit, making six of its last seven shots.

• Chandler Bing hits a three to get the lead to 49-40 at the under 12 timeout, but Tyler Nickel commits a shooting foul. Ole Miss has done a better job taking care of the ball this half, which has prevented Vanderbilt from pulling away in this one. Tyler Tanner is also up to 18 points.

• It has been a bit of a slow start to the second half for Vanderbilt, but Tyler Tanner just took it to the basket for an and-1 opportunity right before the media timeout. Vanderbilt up 39-32 pending the free throw.

1st Half

• HALF: Vanderbilt leads 31-23 going into the locker room. It has been a half where Vanderbilt has not had its best offensively, but it has still been good enough. Vanderbilt's defense is leading the way today with the nine turnovers forced.

• Tyler Nickel with a wide open dunk to extend the lead to 31-23 with under a minutes to go. Commodores getting out into transition yet again.

• Ole Miss averages 9.9 turnovers a game. Vanderbilt has forced nine turnovers this first half alone. That is the story of the game thus far.

• Vanderbilt up 23-12 with 6 minutes to go in the first half. It has been an ugly offensive game for both sides to some extent. Commodores have been missing open shots that have prevented the lead from getting big while Ole Miss has had no offensive rhythm whatsoever, which is a credit to Vanderbilt's defense.

• Vanderbilt is up 18-10 at the under 12 timeout. One of the thing Ole Miss has done well offensively this season is taking care of the ball, but Vanderbilt has already forced the Rebels into seven turnovers. Commodores defense continuing to see growth.

• Vanderbilt up 7-2 in the early going here. Commodores have missed a couple open looks from three, but have defended well thus far.

Pregame

• Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles is using a crutch on his right side. Earlier in the week, Miles had what was described as a “clean up” knee surgery by Mark Byington.

• The way in which today happened was a little crazy considering how long the effects of the inclement weather have lasted across the southeast. But here today, Vanderbilt has another opportunity to take advantage of a second home game this week. Players of both teams are on the floor right now going through an early shootaround. I expect a good crowd on hand this evening given that fans were pleasantly surprised with a second home game this week.

• I am back helping with coverage of Vanderbilt basketball after taking Tuesday’s game against Kentucky off with power and internet issues. Power and internet is restored, and Vanderbilt On SI is ready to roll here at Memorial Gymnasium as Vanderbilt takes on Ole Miss.