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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt basketball has a big opportunity to take a jump in the SEC standings on Saturday. Here's its chance.
The Commodores face Bucky McMillan's first Texas A&M team after a significant win over Auburn. It won't be easy, but Vanderbilt could help its hopes of a double bye in the SEC Tournament with a win. Here's what it has to do in order to make that happen on Saturday.
Handle the press
On paper, Vanderbilt is the type of team that Texas A&M would likely love to face often.
Without Duke Miles and Frankie Collins in the lineup, this is a single ballhandler team that will have to rely often on Tyler Tanner to handle the ball and break the consistent press that A&M will throw at Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt appears to have a chance to rip through Bucky McMillan’s signature press with good decision making as well as some ballhandling contributions from AK Okereke, Mike James and Chandler Bing, though. If Vanderbilt can break through the press, A&M is prone to having issues defending in the halfcourt and may give up a significant amount of transition points.
That will be a key element in this.
Can AK Okereke and Devin McGlockton stay on the floor?
Okereke and McGlockton will have the difficult assignment of guarding A&M big man Rashaun Agee. They likely won’t shut Agee down–especially considering he’s scored in double figures in all but one SEC game–but they’ve got to stay in the game and make him get his points inefficiently.
That’s easier said than done, though. Agee is shooting 49.3% from the field on the season. Here’s the kicker, he’s No. 92 in the country in free throw rate. That could make it difficult for Okereke and McGlockton to play the entire game Saturday.
If neither can stay on the floor, this has the potential to turn A&M’s way.
Make the math worse than usual for A&M
McMillan’s fingerprints are all over the metrics of his first team at A&M, which should be attributed significantly to its winning ways.
A&M is No. 2 in the country in two-point distance, No. 7 in the country in assists per field goal made and No. 27 in the country. McMillan will undoubtedly have more talented teams in College Station throughout his tenure, but this one is well coached at the very least.
Vanderbilt will have to try to get A&M to settle for a number of inefficient shots, but that may be a futile pursuit by the end of Saturday night.
Prediction: Vanderbilt: 91, Texas A&M: 90
The metrics have this as a decisive Vanderbilt win, but A&M appears to be an odd matchup for it on the surface that will lake it get out of character at times. Vanderbilt will likely have to race to 90 here. If it can stay under control, it should leave Memorial Gymnasium with a win.
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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