Vanderbilt gets Second SEC win of the Season, Upsetting Alabama in Tuscaloosa

The Commodores and Tide treated fans to a shootout in Tuscaloosa and it was the Commodores walking away with their first conference road win since 2018.

Tuscaloosa, Al.- Saben Lee put on a show for the fans in attendance inside Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night, dropping a new career-high 38 points in leading his Vanderbilt Commodores to a stunning 87-79 road upset of the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.   

The win for the Commodores likely knocked Alabama out of the NCAA Tournament as prior to the loss they were considered among the first four out of the Big Dance. 

Vanderbilt got off to a fast start propelled by Lee who scored the first four points of the game with a short jumper and a thunderous dunk as he drove down the lane to give the Commodores a quick 4-0 advantage in the first 1:30 of the game. 

Alabama answered with a three from Alex Reese and from there the Tide would assume an advantage through the first nine minutes of the contest as the two teams traded shots.

The Commodores would trail by as much as six in the first half, but an 8-2 Vanderbilt run would give the Commodores a lead that they would build to 40-33 in the final two minutes of the half on a driving layup by Scottie Pippen Jr.

The first half was marred by fouls as the two teams combined for 19 in the first twenty minutes as the teams combined to shoot 16 free-throws in the first twenty minutes of action. 

The Commodores ended the half on a Saben Lee floater in the lane with just:1.1 second remaining to take a 42-35 advantage into the locker room. 

Lee led the Commodores all players in scoring in the half, finishing with 20 points while Pippen finished as the second-leading scorer for Vanderbilt with seven points. 

James Bolden led the Tide with 17 in the first half, 15 of which came on five made three-point shots in the half. Kira Lewis Jr finished with 13 for Alabama. 

For Vanderbilt, they finished the half shooting 50% from the floor, hitting 15-30 total shots while connecting on 6 of 14 from behind the arc and  6-8 for 75% from the free-throw line. 

Alabama managed 42.3% from the field in the first half, hitting 11-26 with 7 of 16 coming from long range. The Tide was also 6-8 from the free-throw line.   

The second half was a story of two runs, the first coming from Alabama as they put together a 24-16 run to open the half and retake the lead at 59-58.

From there it was the Commodores who regained the lead 63-61 on a Maxwell Evans jumper as the two teams would play back and forth before Vanderbilt would grab the for the final time with 5:12 remaining and hold on down the stretch for the victory.   

Lee's performance and the Commodores win overshadowed Kira Lewis Jr.'s 30 point night for Alabama. James Bolden, the lone Tide senior knocked down seven three-pointers en route to a 24 point game in his final appearance at home while Jalen Shackleford finished with 18. 

Not to be outdone, Dylan Disu stepped up in the final twenty minutes, dropping three- three-point shots of his own as he would finish with 14 points after having only three in the first half.  

Pippen ended the night with 13 while Evans collected eight points along with five each from Braelee Albert and Otan Jankovic and Ejike Obinna finished with five points for the victorious Commodores. 

The Commodores return home to a devastated city following the tragic tornados that hit the Middle Tennessee area early Tuesday morning. Both head coach Jerry Stackhouse and Lee talked of hearing the news this morning and dedicated the win to their city and those affected by the tragedy. 

Vanderbilt hosts South Carolina ion the regular season wrap up on Saturday at 11:30 am in a game available on the SEC NEtwork.