NASHVILLE, Tenn.—From Jalen Washington throwing up in warm-ups, players to foul trouble to Washington and three other key players players, to Tyler Nickel’s off-night and the team’s 25% 3-point shooting, to this being a half-court, grind-it-out game, there was nothing pretty about Vanderbilt’s 71-68 win over Ole Miss in Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday night.
That didn’t make coach Mark Byington, or the crowd of 11,670, any less happy at the end.
“I started my pregame speech with the guys—and it was even more accurate at the end—’Whatever it takes to be 1-0 today,’ Byington said in his post-game press conference. “I knew we weren’t coming into this game at our best. Injuries, illnesses, fatigue, just a lot of things going on. And Ole Miss fought really hard and we knew they were gonna play that way. We just had to find some way, somehow, to win the game.
Tyler Tanner scored 24 points and AK Okereke added 17 for the Commodores (19-3, 6-3 Southeastern Conference), who led the entire way. That lead was 13 in the first half and the Rebels whittled it two in the final minutes, but couldn’t close.
Former Commodore Malik Dia scored 16 points, including two free throws with 1:20 left, for the Rebels. AJ Storr also scored 16 for the Rebels, including a fast-break 3 with 45 seconds left that got the lead to two.
Okereke, who was 11 of 13 from the foul line, and hit one of two foul shots with 15 seconds left, leaving the door open for the Rebels to tie as Dia grabbed the rebound.
But Storr missed a 3 on the ensuing possession and after the Rebels got the rebound, Dia missed one from the left corner just before time expired.
Vanderbilt led 31-23 at the break behind Tanner’s 10 points and two assists.
Ole Miss started 1 of 5 from the floor with four turnovers and trailed 7-2 at the 15:37 media time out. Vanderbilt took its first double-digit lead (15-5) on Tanner’s three-point play with 12:08 left in the half. The lead later grew to 13 on Tyler Harris’s steal and fast-break dunk.
But foul trouble caught up with Vanderbilt as Tanner, Okereke, Washington and McGlockton all picked up two fouls in the half’s first 16:58. The Rebels eventually cut the lead to 25-21 with 3:02 left on a pair Dia foul shots.
Vanderbilt went up 11 on four separate occasions in the second half, but Dia, Storr and Ilias Kamardine (14 points) kept the Rebels (11-10, 3-5) in it down to the wire.
OBSERVATIONS
Vanderbilt just needed a win however it could get it.
Byington said afterwards that Devin McGlockton (two points, three rebounds in 26 minutes) missed Friday’s practice for an undisclosed reason, mentioned that walk-on Coleson Messer tested positive for the flu at the pregame shoot-around and added that he (Byington) admitted to being sleep-deprived and not feeling great, either.
Throw in Okereke, Washington, McGlockton and Tyler Nickel each ending the game with four fouls, the fact that Nickel (the league’s leading 3-point shooter in makes and percentage) tied a season low with five points, and the fact Washington and McGlockton (who collectively average 19.4 points) combined for just six, it didn’t feel like a recipe for a win.
Nor did it look like the team that’s been among the nation’s leaders in tempo and scoring much of the year. The 64 possessions (per KenPom.com) made this the slowest-tempo game Vandy has played this season. Vanderbilt didn’t take quick shots at almost any point in the game, and by late in the second half, it had become reduced basically to Tanner beating Ole Miss off the dribble, or Okereke backing down Rebels in the paint and getting fouled.
But the Commodores ended the night tied for third in the SEC’s overall standings and now get a much-needed week off before next Saturday’s game with Oklahoma.
“We weren’t at our best and still figured out a way, and a team’s gotta figure out a way to do that,” Byington said.
Mike James gave Vanderbilt nine much-needed points.
James, who played a season-high in minutes (26) and scored a season-high nine points, hit the first two 3-pointers he took and had a big hand in that early double-digit lead. His other 3 was perhaps the game’s biggest shot. He was 3 of 8 from behind the arc, marking the first time he’s hit more than one 3 in a game this season.
James missed all of last season with a knee injury. Two years ago at Louisville, James averaged 12.6 points and 33.3 minutes a game. However, that Louisville team went just 8-24 before James transferred to NC State, where he sat out last season.
Byington was asked if James be the scorer the guard-thin Commodores need right now?
“I think what Mike’s figured out—and compliments to him—he’s figured out how to make plays on a winning team,” Byington said. “And that’s different. If you’re playing basketball and that’s lopsided and nothing’s on the line, you know, it’s kind of free and it’s not the same.
“Giving him grace because he missed an entire year last year with injuries, and giving him a chance to kind of develop in the season, I think we’re seeing he can make plays, along with 3s, that can help us win. And I think you saw those today.”
Vanderbilt’s defense was outstanding in the first half.
It was hard to find fault with the Commodores’ effort on the defensive end. They held Ole Miss to eight field goals (with no assists) and forced nine first-half turnovers in building an eight-point lead at the break.
Vanderbilt became more limited in what it could do once it got into foul trouble late in the first half; it went zone and Ole Miss had a
“We had a little more energy in the first half,” Byington said. “That’s something we do well this entire year. The second half, we were just a step slow and and I thought Storr made some tough shots. We could not quite keep guys out of the lane and do a couple of things there. … But the first half activity was good, and we kind of looked like ourself, and then we hit the wall—fatigue and line-ups, things like that—and somehow got through it.”
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