Vanderbilt Basketball Just Won A Game That League Winners Do; Column

Vanderbilt basketball just took down Ole Miss despite being shorthanded and having to grind it out. Here's what that says about it.

Jan 31, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Tanner (3) reacts after getting fouled and making the basket against the Mississippi Rebels during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE—As AK Okereke sauntered over to the handshake line and could’ve basked in the glory of a Vanderbilt basketball win over Ole Miss, he couldn’t shake a negative thought from his head as he slid between Tyler Nickel and Chandler Bing in line. 

Okereke had just picked up the game-winning stop by moving his feet and contesting a shot from Ole Miss wing AJ Storr, but the possession before loomed in his mind regardless of the final outcome. 

“Honestly,” Okereke told Vandy on SI. “My mind went back to the missed free throw.” 

In some ways, Okereke’s negative thought sums up Saturday for Vanderbilt basketball. It didn’t have its best, yet it found a way to win. Its film sessions may not be all that fun in the next few days and it may not act as if it won when it returns to the practice floor, yet it did. 

Byington’s team shot just 25.0% from 3-point range, 71% from the free throw line, had to play its two back-end rotational freshmen a combined 29 minutes and was outscored 49-to-19 in bench points, yet there it was trotting around the sidelines at Memorial Gymnasium after its third-consecutive victory. 

Who knows if this group has a chance to win the league after three-consecutive losses momentarily took it out of the SEC regular season title race, but Saturday was proof of concept for something that this group has been proving since the beginning of league play. Even if Vanderbilt isn’t the SEC’s best team, it’s a whole lot better than the bottom of the league teams and it’s significantly better than most of the SEC middle of the pack. 

Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss by three, it blew out Mississippi State 88-56, took down Kentucky 80-55 and beat LSU 84-73 despite not having its best. Outside of its three losses and win over ranked Alabama, Vanderbilt has won its league games by an average of 17.8 points. It’s also 4-1 at home in league play and its wins in that span have come by an average margin of 13. 

Perhaps the stipulations of the stat water it down some, but it's one that indicates that Vanderbilt is doing the things that highly-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament do. A fair number of upper-quad wins are required in order for a team to play a team from a one-bid league in the round of 64, but so is doing what Vanderbilt has done at this place–and what it did on Saturday. 

Jan 31, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Mark Byington talks with Mississippi Rebels forward James Scott (4) at the end of the game at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

“We weren’t at our best,” Byington said. “I started my pregame speech with the guys, and it was even more accurate at the end, and I said, whatever it takes to be won today." And I knew we weren't coming in this game at our best. Injuries, illnesses, fatigue, just a lot of things going on and oldness fought really hard and we knew they were going to play that way. We just had to figure out somehow, some way to be able to win the game.”

Byington’s team was without veteran guards Duke Miles and Frankie Collins–and its best–-on Saturday, yet it won and never trailed. In the process, it did to Ole Miss what few have done to it over the course of the season; Vanderbilt turned the Rebels over nine times in the first half. 

For Vanderbilt to win on Saturday, it had to play a different brand of basketball than it generally does and it had to rely on different avenues of offense to get the job done. Vanderbilt often had to slow it down and play deeper into the shot clock than it generally does. It needed Mike James’ 26 minutes and nine points–including a big shot that all but sealed this thing. It needed Okereke to step up with 17 points, too. 

Jan 31, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke (10) drives to the basket past Mississippi Rebels guard AJ Storr (2) during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

“It really just shows that there’s some versatility in the ways that we can win,” Okereke said. “We can win the gridfests that are in the 60s, we can win the high paced, high scoring affairs. And, that’s really what it comes down to.” 

Vanderbilt winning like this isn’t all that impressive–particularly when considering that Vanderbilt was favored and at home–but it doing this consistently is a demonstration that what it has should be good enough to secure it a double bye in the SEC Tournament and a top five seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

Perhaps Saturday didn’t put the level that Vanderbilt has in it on display, but it helped it to avoid a quad-three loss. Perhaps the biggest storyline is what Vanderbilt avoided. It demonstrated that it knows how to win, too. Remember that about today, too.

“I think we can play any way we have to,” Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner said. “We’re confident that whatever game we have to play, whether it’s low or high scoring, we can win.”