Men’s Basketball: No. 15 Vanderbilt picks up fourth conference loss with 92-91 defeat to Oklahoma – The Vanderbilt Hustler

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Men’s Basketball: Vanderbilt dominates Kentucky, wins 80-55 in Memorial Gymnasium
Men’s Basketball: Previewing Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky
No. 15 Vanderbilt (19-3, 6-3 SEC) returned to action for a third straight game in Memorial Gymnasium after wins over Kentucky and Ole Miss. This time, the Commodores faced off against Oklahoma (11-12, 1-9 SEC) and fell to the Sooners in a narrow defeat. 
Head coach Mark Byington rolled out the same starting lineup that he has in the past two games, with Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel, AK Okereke, Jalen Washington and Devin McGlockton taking the floor to open the contest. Miles and Frankie Collins remained out for their third and 14th consecutive games, respectively. 
In a very uncharacteristic manner, the ‘Dores got out to a shockingly slow start that persisted throughout the first half, trailing by 14 points going into the break. The second half wasn’t much different for the first 16 minutes, and despite a late push for Vanderbilt, Byington’s squad fell to the worst team in the SEC, according to the conference standings.
Tanner was the star of the show without Miles alongside him in the backcourt, finishing with a career-high 37 points, 9 assists and 5 steals, shooting 10-for-23 from the field and 14-for-18 from the free throw line. Nickel complemented him with 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting from deep, and Okereke added 13 of his own before fouling out with just 20 minutes played.
“In this high of a level of sports, you get what you deserve,” Byington said following the loss. “We did not play well. We obviously didn’t prepare well. We’ve got to own it. We showed some fight towards the end, but that wasn’t us tonight. We’ve got to go back and figure it out and learn from it, and then we’ve got to fix some things. We can’t ever do this again.” 
First half 
Oklahoma won the opening tip-off, and Tae Davis got the scoring started with a paint jump shot and a free throw. Derrion Reid continued the Sooners’ opening punch with a short jumper of his own before Okereke put the ‘Dores on the board with a pair of shots from the stripe. Davis did him one better with a pair of strong drives to the basket through contact for two three-point plays, putting the Sooners up 11-2 in the early moments of the game. 
The Commodores still struggled to get things going, as Tanner was only able to convert one of his two free throws after a foul on Reid. A tough drive and basket by Mohamed Wague further extended the lead for Oklahoma to put the score at 13-3 at the first media timeout with 15:45 left on the clock. 
Nickel hit the first field goal for Vanderbilt with a moving 3-point shot from the right wing, much to the crowd’s delight. Davis quickly got back a bucket for the Sooners, but an offensive rebound and dunk from Washington kept the lead to single digits. Davis, already with 11 points, finished through a foul from Nickel once again and hit the free throw to push the Sooners’ lead back to 10. 
Dayton Forsythe and Nijel Pack drilled the first and second 3-pointers of the game for Oklahoma to extend the advantage to 16. Tyler Harris got on the board with a floater from just outside the paint before the next media timeout at 11:53, with the Commodores trailing 24-10. 
Xzayvier Brown picked up his first points with a turnaround mid-range jumper, but McGlockton one-upped him with a 3-pointer from the left wing. Tanner came away with a steal and a nice finish over Brown on the fastbreak before nabbing another takeaway and again laying it up in transition. A 7-0 run from the ‘Dores forced Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser to take a timeout with 9:21 remaining in the half, with the Sooners still leading 26-17. 
Nickel knocked down another shot from deep after a pair of free throws by McGlockton. Coupled with a shot clock violation by Oklahoma, the crowd in Memorial Gym was once again rocking. McGlockton stayed perfect from the charity stripe with two more points, but Brown fought back on the other end with a nifty move in the paint for a quick bucket. 
Tanner found Harris driving down the lane for a layup, but Pack hit a 3-pointer on the other end after an offensive rebound by Wague. Tanner kept Vanderbilt alive with a short jumper, but a pair of free throws from Wague pushed the Sooners’ lead to 35-29 before the final media timeout of the half at 3:59. 
Reid knocked down two shots from the stripe out of the break, and a four-point play from Jadon Jones put Oklahoma on a 9-0 run with just under three minutes left in the half. McGlockton came up with a big offensive rebound and bucket to stop the run, but Pack matched it with a smooth step-back jump shot from the midrange. Wague waltzed to the hoop for an easy basket to extend the Oklahoma lead to 15.
Tanner hit a few free throws despite poor overall efficiency (3-10 FG, 5-9 FT), and a layup from Brown put the Sooners up 48-34 going into the locker room for halftime. The ‘Dores shot just 38% from the field and from deep in the first half, and were led in scoring by Tanner with 11 points. 
Second half 
A pair of 3-point jumpers from Brown opened up the scoring in the second half before a series of traded baskets between Nickel, Pack, Washington and Tanner. McGlockton pinned a layup attempt from Davis on the backboard, but the Commodores’ fastbreak was unsuccessful. The Sooners continued to build on their lead, as the score sat at 56-40 with 16:18 left to play. 
Pack cashed in from long range before a turnover from Chandler Bing gave Brown an easy fastbreak layup. A quick 5-0 run for Oklahoma, and a timely media timeout at the 15:47 mark, left the ‘Dores trailing 61-40. 
Tanner continued to be the only inside scoring threat for the Black and Gold in Miles’ absence, knocking down both of his free throws at the line this time. Nickel nailed a triple to get the crowd’s energy back up, but a stoppage in play following a flagrant foul by McGlockton on Wague slowed Vanderbilt’s momentum. The Commodores caught a break, though, as he missed one free throw and Forsythe traveled on the Sooners’ next possession. 
Bing got his first bucket to go on a tough scoop layup, but he couldn’t stop Brown from getting to the rim with ease. Oklahoma’s lead stood strong at 17, with the scoreboard showing 64-47 in favor of the Sooners at the next media timeout with 11:46 remaining in the game. 
Forsythe drilled his second 3-pointer of the game on a pass from Wague after an offensive board, and Jones followed with his second make from deep on the next possession. Tanner and Nickel matched their shots with two long-range shots of their own, and Harris capitalized on a block from Tanner with a smooth jumper. Still, the Commodores couldn’t cut too deep into the Oklahoma lead, trailing 74-57 with 6:51 left to play. 
Nickel couldn’t find paydirt on an open triple, and Reid took advantage with an easy layup. Tanner went two-for-two from the stripe, but Reid once again muscled his way to the rim for an easy bucket. Wague came down with his sixth offensive rebound of the game after a Forsythe miss, and he pushed the lead past 20 points yet again for the Sooners. 
Okereke knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game, but it appeared to be too little too late for the ‘Dores, as they still trailed by 16 points with just over three minutes on the clock. A pair of free throws from Bing and an impressive and-one layup from Tanner cut the lead to just 12 with a smidge under two minutes still to play. 
A hard drive from Reid caused McGlockton to pick up his third foul of the contest and sent the Vanderbilt forward limping off the court. Nickel banged home his fifth triple of the game to cut Oklahoma’s lead to just 86-75 before a timeout from Byington at 1:34. 
Tanner laid it in to push within single digits of the Sooners, and Okereke hit a triple from the left corner — plus the foul — to get the lead down to six with 49 seconds on the clock. Tanner hit a mid-range jumper and two more free throws shortly after, cutting Oklahoma’s lead to just one possession with 29 seconds left. 
Elite defensive pressure from the ‘Dores forced a turnover from Forsythe, but Okereke lost the ball to Pack. Another turnover from Vanderbilt, this time after a bobble by Washington, nearly sealed the loss before Tanner drilled a 3-pointer from the logo to stay alive. He even cashed in on a running triple as the buzzer expired, but Byington’s squad fell by one point at home. 
Needless to say, Tanner was undoubtedly the best player on the floor, finishing with a career-high 37 points — his ninth game over 20 points this season. The Commodores pick up their fourth loss of the season despite his efforts.
“He’s never going to quit,” Byington said regarding Tanner’s performance. “I’m just proud of his resilience. He was fighting, and he was playing as hard as he could, and he almost got us back into it.” 
Vanderbilt will look to get back in the win column in its next game, as it faces off against Auburn on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 10. 
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