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Men’s Basketball: Vanderbilt dominates Kentucky, wins 80-55 in Memorial Gymnasium
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No. 5 Vanderbilt (23-2, 9-2 SEC) secured their second-highest scoring game of the entire season against Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5 SEC) at home on Monday, Feb. 9, taking down the Sooners 102-86. After a 1-point win over Kentucky last week, the ‘Dores certainly set themselves up for more breathing room in this blowout victory. The energy was palpable from the get-go, as Vanderbilt played into its strengths around the perimeter where Oklahoma consistently fell short. This contest was a true testament to the ‘Dores title as one of the most efficient and threatening offenses in the league.
Backcourt brilliance
While many factors tilted the game towards Vanderbilt’s favor, the volume scoring of star guards Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan secured this momentum. Blakes finished the game out with 34 points, followed closely by freshman Galvan with 30.
“She is a glue player,” head coach Shea Ralph said after the contest. “The kid’s just a basketball player. She’s a baller. She just plays, and so I think one of the things that we’ve allowed her to do is [just] that.”
Early in the first quarter, starting forward Sacha Washington visibly struggled against Oklahoma’s interior defense. However, the Commodores turned this into a spacing opportunity: drawing the defense into the paint where Sacha Washington and forward Justine Pissott posted up, opening the floor for guards to cut, space and score. This is where we began to see clean looks and well-timed shots for the Commodores, allowing Blakes and Galvan to get especially hot. Halfway through the second quarter, Vanderbilt held an effective 3-point percentage of a shocking 70%. The lane drives, sharp cuts and clean 3s of Vanderbilt’s offense quickly overshadowed Oklahoma’s leading guard Aaliyah Chavez, who only put up 14 points tonight.
“Let her shoot”
Vanderbilt’s offense also heated up due to a shift in defensive strategy, as they began to better capitalize on Oklahoma’s offensive weaknesses. The Sooners’ downfall was their extremely rushed looks – especially pulling up from deep where they lacked efficiency. These shots were clearly strained due to the ’Dores, who seized an opportunity to push Oklahoma’s weak perimeter game into the spotlight.
By doubling and exerting hard pressure inside — especially on the Sooners’ center star Reagan Beers — the Commodores forced the ball out of the paint and behind the arc. There, quick looks were seldom converted and often turned over. Oklahoma only shot 9% from deep overall.
“Some of our looks were pretty good looks…and we’ve [got to] be able to knock those down,” Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk said.
After these often-missed shots, there was potential for the Sooners to succeed in their offensive rebounding. Oklahoma continuously got second and even third-chance opportunities, which could have led to easy 2-point conversions to keep them in the game. Thankfully for Vanderbilt, though, Oklahoma was also not efficient with those quick put-backs. This would have been a much tighter contest if the Sooners finished more consistently, especially given their rebounding edge.
Tempo troubles
Oklahoma entered the matchup as the faster team, and a high adjusted tempo could have been dangerous for Vanderbilt. However, this speedy pace almost immediately resembled recklessness for the Sooners.
With controlled but aggressive defense from the Commodores, the Sooners continued to look rushed and messy offensively throughout the entire matchup. Oklahoma pushed the ball and set up for shots almost too quickly — a large contributor to their mere 8% effectiveness from deep. Moreover, Oklahoma reached 22 total turnovers with seven in the final quarter alone. Vanderbilt was able to exploit freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez’s especially high turnover rate, whose lack of collegiate experience revealed itself tonight.
Oklahoma’s rushed play was also present defensively. The Sooners continuously jumped for the steal and overplayed, allowing Vanderbilt to fake out these jittery defenders for easy 3-pointers. Moreover, the Commodores capitalized on this reckless play by taking multiple charges as the Sooners rushed down the court.
Vanderbilt looks to capitalize on its win streak as they take on No. 4 Texas (23-2, 8-2 SEC) this Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m. CST in Memorial Gymnasium.
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