Takeaways From Vanderbilt Basketball's 105-93 Win Over UCF

Vanderbilt basketball travelled to Orlando and made quick work of UCF in a 105-93 win that saw it lead by as much as 27 and let it within 10 points just a time or two.

UCF shot 62.1% from the field in the second half, yet still couldn’t push Vanderbilt when it really mattered. Here’s some takeaways from that outing.

That was about as good of a performance as Vanderbilt could’ve put together

Vanderbilt moved the ball, got everyone involved, had active hands defensively and made UCF look like a midmajor team by the end of the afternoon.

The signs that this group had shown through their two exhibitions and their blowout win against Lipscomb all carried over to their first real litmus test Saturday in Orlando. That’s the type of win that doesn’t change a season, but becomes a warning shot of sorts when considering what this group could ultimately do.

UCF doesn’t have the look of an NCAA Tournament, but it doesn’t appear to be as bad as Vanderbilt made it look on Saturday. That was a butt whooping and yet another impressive win for this team.

Vanderbilt may not have a guy, but its balance is admirable

The talking point of Jason Edwards leaving a hole in Vanderbilt’s go-to guy role appears to be relevant, but that doesn’t mean this Vanderbilt team can’t be better than the one Edwards led to the NCAA Tournament a season ago.

Tyler Nickel, Tyler Tanner, Tyler Harris, Frankie Collins and Duke Miles all accounted for double-figures on Saturday. Nickel and Tanner all hit that mark by halftime of Saturday’s game.

Oftentimes balance is a cop out to indicate that a team doesn’t have all that much starpower, but this Vanderbilt team might actually be deep enough and talented enough to claim that it truly does have a balanced attack that includes guys that can step up on any given night.

Now, it has to figure out if it has a go-to guy and adjust accordingly late in games if not.

Tyler Nickel was red hot in stretches on Saturday

The highlights for the Vanderbilt wing weren’t typical of a chalk catch and shoot guy. Nickel took it way beyond the 3-point line on Saturday multiple times as he propelled Vanderbilt to run away from UCF early.

Nickel has teased that playing the three will allow him to unlock more ability off the bounce, but he’s always going to make the most impact on a given game because of his shooting ability. The Vanderbilt wing appears to have a more confident stroke these days and the murmurs coming out of Vanderbilt's summer practice is that the Virginia native is improved relative to where he was a year ago.

Saturday was evidence of that as the Vanderbilt wing had a tremendous outing after going for 20 in Monday’s season opener. Nickel started slow last season, but has been a difference maker early this season.

Two under the radar underwhelming storylines

Vanderbilt saw its two primary active bigs–Jalen Washington and Devin McGlockton–get into foul trouble and appeared to flinch for a second down the stretch of Saturday’s game.

UCF cut Vanderbilt’s lead to less than 10 at one point after the Commodores led by as much as 27. The foul trouble itself was concerning for this group, but so was its response. The most underwhelming storyline was Vanderbilt’s second-half defense.

It was good enough to make that not matter on Saturday, though.

Vanderbilt’s offense is ahead of schedule

The growing pains haven’t been all that prevalent for this Vanderbilt offense. Through a small sample size, it’s been a juggernaut.

The Commodores shot 55.9% from the field, 38.9% from 3-point range, had 18 assists relative to six turnovers and went 15-for-17 from the free throw line. This group appears to be the whole package at this point.

Mark Byington has this group running and gunning early.