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NASHVILLE – If someone told Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan before Saturday’s Vanderbilt-Texas A&M game that the Commodores would be without two guards, hold Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner to just four points on 20 percent shooting and hold Vanderbilt to just 30 percent shooting from three-point land, McMillan probably would have been satisfied with his team’s performance.
In fact, those notes alone would probably indicate on paper that Texas A&M would be in a good position to take down the Commodores on the road. But when the game was played at Memorial Gymnasium Saturday, it was Vanderbilt that came away with a 82-69 victory despite all of those nuggets.
The Commodores put on a collective team effort against the Aggies offensively and defensively, with four guys finishing in double figures. In scoring, Vanderbilt was led by Tyler Nickel with 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting and 5-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Nickel was one of the go-to guys against a Texas A&M defense that likes to full court press opponents. Vanderbilt found ways to break the press and it opened up opportunities for guys like Nickel to find wide open looks in and around the perimeter.
Not too far behind Nickel was AK Okereke with 23 points, Devin McGlockton with 17 points and the freshman, Chandler Bing, with a career-high 11 points.
Despite the multiple circumstances that pointed against Vanderbilt, the Commodores found a way to win. And at the end of the day, that is a credit and a testament to the character and the depth of the team.
“It just speaks to how deep we are as a team. I’ve been saying it for a while, but every team has guys with roles that’s best for them to win. But we have a lot of talented guys on this team, and every night it could be a different guy stepping up. And tonight is one of those nights,” Nickel said.
Winning with Tanner not having his best game of the season at least scoring-wise on top of having Duke Miles and Frankie Collin unable to play in the game speaks volumes. Amidst all those things, teams like Vanderbilt have to make adjustments to game plans on the fly and find other ways to win games. Yet, Vanderbilt has found ways to do just that.
Not only was it Nickel’s night, but it was an impactful night for Vanderbilt’s frontcourt. With Okereke and McGlockton combining for 40 points and 13 rebounds, Jalen Washington also was able to make contributions with his effort on the boards. Washington finished with eight rebounds and played a clean game defensively, only getting called for one foul. Texas A&M does not have as much versatility and length as some other teams Vanderbilt has seen this season, and it took advantage of that opportunity. The Commodores outrebounded the Aggies 40-39 in the game and used the second chance opportunities in the first half to help propel them the rest of the way.
With Miles being one of the guys that has been out, Vanderbilt has had to find other ways to win over the past three weeks. And over these last two games against Auburn and Texas A&M, the Commodores have seemed to rely more on their big men and they have delivered.
Vanderbilt winning on a day where Tanner is having a good day passing the ball, but maybe not as much shooting the ball says another thing about this Vanderbilt team: it does not need Tanner to put the superhero cape on to win games. Other guys can go make the winning plays if need be.
“It says he doesn’t have to go out and get 20 for us to win. Other guys are capable. This team celebrates with each other. No one’s happier in that locker room than Tyler Tanner. And that’s why I like this group. They care about winning and they care about each other,” Byington said.
Tanner having games like he did Saturday are more than likely not going to happen that often the rest of the season, if they even do. But even if that case happens again, the silver lining is that everyone knows the Commodores are still a very formidable team.
Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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