Vanderbilt Commodores Pull Off Massive Upset in 76-74 Thriller Against Tennessee
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A sold out crowd in Nashville was treated to a gem as the Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team pulled off a major upset, taking out the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 76-75.
This is a statement win for first-year head coach Mark Byington, their first Top-25 victory this season. They were 0-9 against ranked opponents a year ago, so this is already a massive improvement. It was also just the second time in the last 15 meetings they were able to defeat the Volunteers.
Vanderbilt now improves to 15-3 on the year and 3-2 in conference play. They are looking more and more likely to finally make their return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
A late Tennessee push certainly made this one closer than it felt, but the Commodores were still able to hold on thanks to a clutch block late by Chris Manon. A missed free throw at the end by the Volunteers sealed the win for Vanderbilt.
For the first few minutes of this one it looked like Tennessee was going to be in control of the game, but the Commodores had a run and never looked back.
On paper, it was a fairly equal matchup. The biggest differences came from the points off turnovers and points in the paint. Vanderbilt did pretty much whatever they wanted down low and it helped them both build and maintain their lead.
Unsurprisingly, the game ball in this one goes to junior guard Jason Edwards. He has been a leader on this team all season and that was no different today.
Edwards had a team-high 18 points and did it on just nine shots. All of his misses came from beyond the arc and he still shot 50% from there on the day.
Sophomore forward Jaylen Carey had one of the best nights of his career with 14 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. His presence on the boards was much needed, as no other player on the team had more than three.
Vanderbilt will now try to make it two in a row against ranked opponents as they travel to take on the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on Tuesday night.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders