What Vanderbilt Players See Out of Nebraska Film

OKLAHOMA CITY – Vanderbilt looks to extend its season Saturday night in the Round of 32 against the No. 4 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. It is a quick turnaround from Thursday to Saturday, but the quick turnarounds have not seemed to bother Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt has done great of late preparing for teams on short notice, but preparing for Nebraska is certainly a different kind of task knowing that it is a style that Vanderbilt has not seen yet.

The first thing Vanderbilt noticed on film is the “no middle” defense that Nebraska runs. The Cornhuskers have prevented opponents all season from getting into the lanes, driving and finding open guys on the perimeter.

As a result, Nebraska has been one of the best teams in the country at defending the three-point shot. When the defensive style Nebraska plays is tuned in, it becomes very difficult for teams to find good looks from the perimeter, which is why Nebraska is eighth in the country in three point percentage allowed. Teams have shot just 29.8 percent from outside the arc against the Cornhuskers this season.

“We call them tags. Some people call them middle guys. They're so good coveraging behind the ball screen, and then they rotate out. They communicate well. This is what you're talking about. You go baseline, you get swallowed up,” Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said. “We've played against some really good defensive teams this year. Florida and Tennessee, they jump out. But this is as good as anybody we've seen.”

Vanderbilt realizes the challenge it will have offensively to get into a rhythm with a unique style of defense it will face. The main point for Vanderbilt is to start the game off much better offensively than it did Thursday, getting into transition rather than playing into the hands of the Cornhuskers’ defense.

But one guy in particular that Vanderbilt is going to need to focus on defensively is Nebraska wing Peyton Sandfort. Sandfort plays a Tyler Nickel-esque role for Nebraska. A sharpshooter from the three-point line that is also physical and provides some length on the perimeter.

In Nebraska’s Round of 64 win over No. 13 seed Troy, Sandfort was just one three-pointer shy of tying the single game program record for threes made in a game with seven made threes. Sandfort is one of the few shooters in the country that does not need much space to get his shot up and in the basket.

Getting Sandfort off his spots and off the three-point line is going to have to be one of the biggest points of emphasis for Vanderbilt. When Sandfort got going Thursday, it was seemingly contagious throughout the rest of the lineup. To a point, letting him get comfortable would be letting the rest of Nebraska’s offense get comfortable.

“He’s a sniper. Just don’t let him get comfortable, don’t let him get free, easy catches. They’re elite at getting him looks, so it’s about just knowing where he wants to get to and us being locked in defensively and not letting him get anything easy,” Nickel said.

Vanderbilt has noticed some similarities between itself and its opponent. As Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner pointed out, both teams make it a goal to turn opponents over. Nebraska has the seventh-best defensive efficiency rating in college basketball, per KenPom, while turning teams over at a 19.4 percent clip.

What could help the Commodores is the fact that they just took down the team that was the best in the country at taking the ball away. However, Vanderbilt did make some early mistakes that turned into McNeese points. That is likely not going to slide Saturday against a team that can shoot much better than its previous one.

“We both really like to force turnovers. Steals, jumping passing lanes, whatever it is. They have really good guards who play defense like me and Duke [Miles]. So, it’s going to be a very well-fought game. It should be pretty fun,” Tanner said.

With Vanderbilt’s backcourt of Tanner and Miles going against Nebraska’s guards in Sam Hoiberg and Jamarques Lawrence, the game could easily come down to which duo is more efficient.

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