The State of Vanderbilt Basketball: The Anchor
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Remarkable times are currently going on in Nashville after the first weekend of SEC conference play in both men’s and women’s college basketball.
Vanderbilt men’s basketball opened SEC play with a road win against South Carolina without its leading scorer in Duke Miles. The Commodores cruised past the Gamecocks with Tyler Tanner leading the team with 19 points and tying a program record of 14 assists.
Vanderbilt also got contributions from AK Okereke, Jalen Washington, Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel. With the win Vanderbilt not only started 1-0 in conference play, but is off to a 14-0 start to the season. Vanderbilt is one of six remaining undefeated teams in division I men’s basketball.
On the women’s side, Vanderbilt’s excellence continued Sunday afternoon as the Commodores got a 65-61 win over No. 5 LSU to begin their conference slate. Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes led a fourth quarter comeback with 15 of her 32 points coming in the final 10 minutes. Vanderbilt trailed 49-42, but Blakes and her teammates stepped up and delivered their first win over a team ranked in the top five under head coach Shea Ralph.
“We came here to win. I love having Mikayla and Sacha at the press conference with me today because everything they did on the court made an impact for us to win this game,” Ralph said. “It wasn't just these two. It was a full team effort, which is what we needed. I think every single person on our team made a huge impact on the win today. I’m proud of this group. It’s still only January, and we have a long way to go. We have another big game on Thursday, but we are sure going to enjoy this one.”
Vanderbilt women’s basketball is now 15-0 on the season after the monumental victory and jumped up to the No. 7 spot in the latest women’s basketball AP Top 25.
Among all schools in division I college basketball, Vanderbilt is the only school remaining with undefeated men’s and women’s basketball teams. Vanderbilt men’s basketball is back in action Wednesday against No. 13 Alabama and Vanderbilt women’s basketball returns to the court Thursday against Missouri.
Today's Commodores Schedule
There are no games scheduled today.
Yesterday’s Commodores Results Today
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Did You Notice?
Despite losing the first two meets of the spring season against San Diego State and San Diego, Vanderbilt swimming Aubrey Hull still had a good weekend on the road. Hull got herself an individual victory and finished second-place in the second match. The sophomore touched the wall first in the 200 backstroke and was runner-up in the 100 backstroke, with Quinlan Hinerfeld and Merritt Zieminick also placing second in at least one race.
Vanderbilt swimming returns to action Jan. 16 with a Tri-meet against Kentucky and Texas A&M at 1 p.m. CT.
Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2026 Baseball Season Opener
38 days
Commodores Quote of The Day
“That’s the thing about leverage: You never know which person will go out of their way to help you. But the more people you have trying to move the needle in your favor, the more likely it’ll happen.”Chantelle Anderson
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.