Vanderbilt Basketball Misses Shot to Tie in Clutch Time, Falls to Tennessee

The Commodores had a shot to tie the game late with a timeout. Here’s an inside look into the final play and why the timeout was not called.

Feb 21, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Tanner (3) dribbles the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner received the inbound pass after a made Tennessee free throw. There were 13.2 seconds remaining in a 68-65 game. This was Tanner and the Commodores’ opportunity to tie the game.

Tanner dribbled the ball up the court and went toward the right wing of Vanderbilt’s half of the court. He got matched up against Tennessee guard Bishop Boswell, where Tanner drove just inside the three-point arc, stepped back to create space and missed a three-pointer off the left side of the rim with just 3.2 seconds to go.

Tennessee grabbed the rebound, got fouled and hit a free throw to make it a two-possession game and effectively ended Vanderbilt’s chance to win the game.

However, Vanderbilt did have a timeout available and an opportunity to draw up one final play. It is a decision that every coach has to make at some point during the season. So, why did Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington not call a timeout in that scenario?

“It was coming after a free throw, and so we already had the play called that we were going to do. There’s no reason to burn a timeout. The guys knew the play to run and we had to save our timeout,” Byington said.

In a scenario when a team is down three with one last opportunity to tie the game, there are a couple strategies offenses can think of. Teams can either choose to go for three and attempt to tie the game, or the offense can elect to drive it to the basket for two and extend the game, hoping the opponent misses a free throw and leaves the door open.

For Vanderbilt, Byington said the strategy originally was to go to the hoop and extend the game, but the play starting on the wrong side of the court took more time off the clock and thus forced Vanderbilt into shooting a three.

“We were trying to go downhill, and then the problem was we started on the wrong side of the court and then that took an extra two or three seconds,” Byington said. “TT’s [Tyler Tanner] look was pretty good. You look at the shot and it’s easy to say he missed it. He’s an all-conference player with his feet underneath him and shot a three. So, if I’m in that situation again and that’s what we got, I’ll take it.”

Looking at the play, Tanner did not have a bad look. Perhaps Byington was right to not call a timeout and give it in the hands of his star player. When a coach has his best player with the ball in his hands with the time winding down, there is an argument to be made that the coach just lets the player continue with the play.

Calling a timeout in that situation does give Vanderbilt a chance to draw up a play, but it also gives Tennessee to set up its defense and potentially focus on taking Tanner out of the play. 

But in the end, Vanderbilt was unable to make the clutch shots it needed to down stretch. Going into the game, one of the things Vanderbilt needed to do was take advantage of the open looks and the shot attempts where players have space to shoot. Tennessee’s defense has been known to guard and defend opposing shooters well, so Vanderbilt needed to hit its open looks.

Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, it was not able to hit those shots. On top of the Tanner miss, Tyler Nickel had the best possible shot look that any player could ask for with 2:04 left. Nickel spotted up wide open on the student section side of the floor. Duke Miles passed the ball right into Nickel’s shooting pocket, but Nickel’s three-point attempt rimmed out. An opportunity to go up 66-62 turned into a 64-63 Tennessee lead instead.

And those two missed shots ultimately played a major role in Vanderbilt’s second consecutive loss. It drops Vanderbilt to 21-6 and 8-6 in the SEC. With the loss, the expectation is more so that Vanderbilt will miss out on the double-bye and have to win four games to claim a SEC Tournament Championship.