Vanderbilt Commodores Help SEC Trounce ACC in Challenge Beating Virginia Tech

The SEC/ACC Challenge was dominated by the SEC, including a convincing victory by the Vanderbilt Commodores over the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Nickel (5) looks to pass against the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks during their game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coming into the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season, no one knew what to expect from the Vanderbilt Commodores.

They had a new head coach after firing Jerry Stackhouse and replacing him with Mark Byington from the James Madison Dukes. Nearly their entire roster was overhauled with transfers and recruits joining the program.

There were some analysts who believed they would surprise some people because of how much talent they added to the roster, such as Jay Bilas of ESPN. It would just take a little bit of time for everything to gel.

Evidently, the offseason workouts did wonders, as Vanderbilt has hit the ground running.

On Wednesday night, they continued their stellar performance. The Commodores went on the road to face the Virginia Tech Hokies as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge and handled business with relative ease.

Vanderbilt won the game 80-64 and led by as many as 17 points in the contest. They were efficient from the field, shooting 52.7 percent, led by dynamic guard Jason Edwards.

For the second straight game, Edwards came off the bench and provided a scoring spark for his team. He poured in 19 points in only 21 minutes of action, shooting 5-of-10 from the field, 3-of-7 from 3-point range and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

The North Texas Mean Green transfer has scored 42 points in his two games off the bench and reached double-figures in all nine games. 16+ points have been scored in eight of those nine contests, as he leads the team with 18 points per game.

The only other player to score in double-figures against the Hokies was MJ Collins Jr., who also came off the bench and recorded 15.

Where the Commodores got the job done was on the defensive side of the ball. They were able to quiet a hostile crowd in Blacksburg, taking the fans out of the game with their dominant performance.

Virginia Tech shot only 38.3 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from 3-point range.

Normally, getting crushed on the glass in the fashion the Commodores were on Wednesday night is a recipe for disaster. They were outrebounded 34-21 on the evening.

And despite giving up 14 offensive rebounds, Vanderbilt held them to only 11 second-chance points to limit the damage.

Going on the road and winning is an impressive feat. This was one of 14 victories the SEC had in a lopsided challenge. The Commodores will take the court next on Sunday, December 8 in a neutral site game against the TCU Horned Frogs.