What To Make Of Vanderbilt Basketball's Sunday Performance Against Virginia

Here's our takeaways from Vanderbilt basketball's Sunday exhibition win over Ryan Odom and Virginia in Charleston.

Vanderbilt basketball won its exhibition against Virginia on Sunday, here's what to make of the performace. | Vanderbilt athletics

It's difficult to decipher what exactly to make of Vanderbilt basketball's Sunday win over Virginia in the LinkU Invitational, an outdoor event in Charleston, South Carolina, in which it played at a converted tennis stadium in the first exhibition of the college basketball season. So, Vandy on SI has it broken down in a few takeaways.

Here's what we make of Vanderbilt's 76-68 exhibition win.

That was a good overall day for Vanderbilt basketball

The score really doesn’t matter here, but it’s difficult not to like what Vanderbilt showed Sunday as it was in control against Virginia for the near entirety of Sunday’s exhibition and won the half in which both teams played their starters. 

It’s not a day that alters the outlook of Vanderbilt’s season or reveals all that much that wasn’t already known, but it serves as confirmation as to what Byington and company have been declaring about macro and micro aspects of what this roster could ultimately be. 

There’s a lot left to go after that slopfest of a game, but Vanderbilt outplayed a top 25 team in the country on Sunday.

That looked more like Vanderbilt’s rotation than it sounded like it was going to

Byington started Tyler Tanner, Ace Glass, Chandler Bing, Berke Buyuktuncel and Bangot Dak–which is the lineup that aligns with what Vandy on SI projected would start on opening night. When he made the first subs of the day, he put Ant Brown, Jayden Leverett and Sebastian Williams-Adams in the game–which logically aligned with who the first bench group would be if Vanderbilt played a real game. 

It’s not as if Vanderbilt’s staff is committing to those patterns or declaring anything about its plans, but it appears as if there’s been no major surprises to shake up the lineup. 

Now, it’ll be interesting to imagine where Missouri transfer TO Barrett slots into the lineup when he returns. The indication is that he’s getting closer to taking the floor again and that he’ll be in the rotation when he does. 

Vanderbilt’s frontcourt is the story

It’s not even about how much Dak, Buyuktuncel, Leverett or Williams-Adams scored. It’s about the idea that they held their own physically with a Virginia frontcourt that’s one of the best in the country. 

That same Virginia frontcourt took over stretches of an exhibition at Memorial Gymnasium a year ago, but they were significantly more limited Sunday when Vanderbilt’s new-look frontline came into contact with it. Virginia’s bigs still got theirs, but Vanderbilt held its own and didn’t let things get out of hand. 

Vanderbilt outrebounded Virginia, it blocked shots at a higher clip than it did in almost every game a season ago and it never looked outmanned at the four and the five. Byington was willing to sacrifice shooting to get that and it appears as if his vision is paying off. 

Don’t worry about Vanderbilt’s shooting, at least yet

Vanderbilt’s shooting is its potential biggest weakness, but Sunday shouldn’t be the reason to panic in regard to what it can do on the perimeter. 

Remember, Vanderbilt and Virginia played outdoors in a setting where one end of the court was covered by the sun and the other was in the shade. That’s not a conducive shooting environment, nor is it one that leads to any long-term conclusions in regard to how much perimeter shotmaking capability Vanderbilt has. 

Vanderbilt shot 6-for-18 from 3-point range, but its ugliest number was 10-for-27 from the free throw line. If that keeps up then it’s time to worry, but it’s still September and was a poor shotmaking environment. 

Ant Brown is the future and is growing up quickly

Brown demonstrated his growth on a possession in which he caught a tap-out offensive rebound from Vanderbilt freshman big man Jackson Sheffield and could’ve taken a contested 3-point shot from the left wing, but pump faked into a ballscreen and threw Sheffield open as a roller. Sheffield ended the possession at the free-throw line.

Brown did have a freshman moment the following possession when he opted to force a pass and took a tough contested floater that didn’t fall. Brown is a willing passer and bounced back with a flashy pair of assists to Gabe Nesmith and Jackson Sheffield to seal the game, though. That was perhaps the most impactful individual stretch of Sunday’s scrimmage in regard to Vanderbilt’s long-term outlook. Byington declared this summer that Brown is more than merely a scorer, and it appears as if he was right.

Clearly Brown will be better off for Sunday, and will be able to tap into the dynamic elements of his game more and more as the game slows down for him. 

What a day for Jayden Leverett

Leverett says he was in the flow state. 

It would’ve been a successful day for Leverett if he demonstrated that he can play more than three-consecutive minutes and not lose his effectiveness. Leverett did that, but also asserted himself as a real offensive piece. Take some of Leverett’s best moments–which came against Virginia walk-on big man Carter Lang, a former scholarship player at Vanderbilt–with a grain of salt, but keep them in mind if he continues to flash the rest of exhibition season. 

Leverett’s best moment came against 7-foot-1 Virginia big man Favor Ibe when he put Ibe in the post and babyhooked it over him for the most impressive bucket he’s scored in front of the public since joining Vanderbilt a little over a year ago. Leverett scored 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and was Vanderbilt’s second-leading scorer. He even got a shooter’s bounce on a top of the key 3-point make. 

Sunday was Leverett’s day, and nothing was stopping him.

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