Vanderbilt Basketball Did What Elite Teams Do In Win Over Memphis. Yes, Really; Column
In this story:
Mark Byington can’t say it out of respect for a coaching colleague and a generally respectable Memphis program, but if he could he would likely blurt out a similar message to the one that he did after Vanderbilt’s win over Central Arkansas.
Byington said after that 83-72 win that if his team brought that level of effort to its series reunion with Memphis that it would lose by 40. It appears as if the Vanderbilt coach wasn’t correct in his assessment, though. Vanderbilt wasn’t much better on Wednesday night in Memphis than it was as it limped out of the gate in a fittingly post finals week buy game.
Vanderbilt left with a 77-70 win and moved to 11-0–which is really all that matters because of the body of work that it’s already established–but the performance it turned in is one of the ilk that will either have Byington glued to Synergy for the next three days or will have him urging his team to forget everything about it and to prepare for Wake Forest.
“We lost our composure a little bit and made some mistakes here and there,” Byington said on the radio after the game. “But at the same time, we just found a way.”
It was out of character in every little way. Chandler Bing saw an airball slip out of his hand as he went up for an open layup. Vanderbilt engaged in a 3-point shooting contest for a stretch of Wednesday’s first half and didn’t necessarily win. Frankie Collins got caught sleeping and was blown by while guarding off ball on the press. Tyler Nickel threw it away while breaking the press on a possession in which Vanderbilt neglected to let Tyler Tanner touch the ball.
The macro level didn’t look all that pretty, either. In fact, it was more ugly than pretty. Vanderbilt shot just 32.3% from the field, 19.4% from 3-point range, turned it over a season-high 20 times and allowed Memphis back into the game after holding an 11-point lead early in the second half. All the numbers didn’t align with the idea that Vanderbilt would leave FedEx Forum with a win.
"Even pickup games have more discipline than this,” an announcer assigned to the game said on the air.
Yet, Vanderbilt made history. It picked up a win while shooting below 35% from the field for the first time since 2014. Last time this Vanderbilt program did what it did on Wednesday night–beating Memphis–it was Nov. 21, 1997. The last time it did this in this city was Dec. 7, 1996. It’s never won in this arena, although it’s only tried once.
Where was the flow? Where was the offense that entered the game No. 4 in offensive efficiency? Where was Vanderbilt basketball? Maybe back in Nashville? Perhaps more accurately, it was in Memphis playing into Penny Hardaway’s hands as his team tried to muck up the game and make it a fight.
It was the type of outing that Vanderbilt had to escape as if it was standing in quicksand. It was the type of game that Vanderbilt appears to be above losing. Turns out, it is.
For all of Vanderbilt’s faults on Wednesday, it’s still one of seven undefeated college basketball teams and is two wins–one against Wake Forest and a second against New Haven–away from going undefeated in non-conference play.
Collins still made the catch-and-shoot corner 3 when Vanderbilt badly needed it. Tanner still demonstrated the instincts to push Byington to challenge a call that ended up being game defining. This team still bounced back from a disappointing end of regulation with a player-led huddle and an eventual win in overtime.
“I’m really proud of the overtime,” Byington said. “To be able to get off the mat, a lot of teams would be down or dejected. You’re on the road in overtime and they’ve got some momentum, but we came right back out.”
Vanderbilt played into Memphis’ hands, yet it beat it at its own game in the end. The difference; this team knows how to win and Hardaway’s doesn’t appear to yet. Vanderbilt has an identity, leaders and an idea of how to win ugly.
That’s the difference between a talented team like Memphis and a team that’s proven to be among the country’s best like Vanderbilt. Most on this Vanderbilt team know their role. All of them know that they’re a better team than they showed that they were on Wednesday night, but that they had a chance to win if they grinded it out.
That it did–what elite teams do.
“I told the guys ‘we should have some confidence in knowing that we can have an off shooting night,” Byington said. “We might not play perfect and some things might go against us, but we can still find a way to come out on top and have things go in our favor. We missed some open shots tonight, we got a little bit rattled, we did some things. But, we stayed competitive.”
_(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.
Follow joey_dwy