There's the Vanderbilt Basketball Team We Know. They're Here Again; Column
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Mark Byington got on the plane out of Fayetteville and knew he had some difficult hours ahead of him. Byington loves diving into film as much as the next guy, but not this film.
This film was “embarrassing”--as he said it would be in the moments following Vanderbilt’s 93-68 loss to Arkansas–and Byington would probably want to avoid it, but sometimes duty calls. Instead of running from this, Byington had to hit it head on. He was clear in the moments following Vanderbilt’s loss that he was going to force his players to do the same.
As if he was sending a message to his team, Byington declared that Vanderbilt’s Wednesday film session wouldn’t be enjoyable for anyone involved.
How could it be, honestly? As Vanderbilt–which was considered the SEC regular season title favorite less than a week before it took the floor in Fayetteville–boarded the plane back to Nashville, it was last in the SEC in defensive efficiency, opponent two-point percentage and was last in offensive rebounding.
All the issues from year one that Byington and company believed they had solved with a bigger, deeper roster reared their ugly head and indicated that this group may have some flaws that didn’t manifest throughout the Commodores’ 16-0 start. What Vanderbilt showed in that three-game stretch was that in some ways it is what it is, regardless of its non-conference dominance.
If anyone on this Vanderbilt team left the confines of the Huber Center throughout the week or went on their phones, all they would hear about is what this group couldn’t do and that their ceiling may be limited.
Turns out, this Vanderbilt team was ready to play as if they were sick of that.
“We were excited to play,” Byington said. “We had a tough stretch with the opponents and different circumstances and things like that, but our guys understand the process of getting better and the process of what’s next and they didn’t let anything linger from a hard game or anything before that.”
Perhaps Saturday didn’t indicate that everything is fixed and that this group is flawless, but it was a loud reminder that Vanderbilt shouldn’t be viewed solely within the lens of what it can’t do. It was a reminder that this group has enough to be able to finish as one of the SEC’s best teams when this is all said and done.
“We had to just get back to ourselves,” Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles said in his postgame radio hit. “Honestly, we went through a little slump with the three games we lost–one of them was a blowout–but we were just trying to get back to Vanderbilt basketball.”
Watching Vanderbilt on Saturday in Starkville was watching Vanderbilt basketball again for the first time in a while. It was watching a group that demonstrated the value of elite guardplay–as evidenced by Tyler Tanner going for 24 points and Miles throwing in 17–the value of disruption and a team with length and athleticism–as evidenced by its 28 points off of turnovers and how difficult it is to defend a team that runs good actions with five scoring options on the floor at all times.
Didn’t believe in those things before Saturday? Time to start believing.
“Our guys’ approach to the game was really good,” Byington said. “We still can get a lot better, our guys know it and that’s what our guys are striving for. There will be bumps along the way, but just a great response by our guys today.”
Don’t make this more than it is—Mississippi State has a better chance of playing on Wednesday in the SEC Tournament than dancing—but don’t entirely write this off. This is what happens when Vanderbilt is in character against a non-elite team.
Vanderbilt led by as much as 34, outscored Mississippi State 50-to-22 in the paint, 28-to-10 on turnovers, had 19 assists and just nine turnovers. It also slowed down All-SEC guard Josh Hubbard and had the two best players on the floor in Tanner and Miles. So much for Vanderbilt’s defense being the worst in the league. After this, Vanderbilt’s general defensive metrics will even out and will get close to its underlying ones.
Winning on the road in the SEC in the way that Vanderbilt did it on Saturday is entirely unprecedented. It also appears to be repeatable.
Remember those flaws Vanderbilt demonstrated throughout the last two weeks? Those didn’t go away on Saturday. Mississippi State only grabbed two rebounds less than Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt also didn’t have as much physicality as the Bulldogs. Yet, by the end of this thing, it had all but embarrassed Chris Jans’ Mississippi State team.
Vanderbilt is what it is, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be sporting a double bye in the SEC Tournament and a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
That was the Vanderbilt team we’ve always known was in there. They intend to keep showing up this way.
“We’re going to learn from these lessons,” Miles said. “When we’re on, we’re on. We’re very hard to beat.”
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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