Vanderbilt’s Defense Continues To Strengthen After Third Straight Win – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner jumped into the passing lane on the first defensive possession of the game in the Commodores’ 71-68 win over Ole Miss Saturday afternoon. Tanner took the ball all the way to the other end of the floor and dunked the ball for the game’s first points.
It was the beginning of what was a strong defensive half of basketball for Vanderbilt.
The Commodores forced the Rebels to turn it over nine times in the first half alone. Ole Miss is one of the more efficient teams in the country at taking care of the ball, averaging just 9.9 giveaways per game this season. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt was able to force Ole Miss’ season average for turnovers in just the first 20 minutes alone.
Whether it was jumping passing lanes or applying pressure to Ole Miss’ guards, Vanderbilt was active on the defensive end, especially in the first half. Though Ole Miss made adjustments during halftime and only committed two turnovers in the second half, the nine forced turnovers ended up being a difference maker in the outcome of the game.
The first half takeaways Vanderbilt got resulted in eight more shot opportunities than Ole Miss had in the first half. In a game that was as close as Saturday’s game was, those eight extra opportunities, or the eight fewer opportunities Ole Miss had early on went a long way.
“We had more energy and activity in the first half. And that’s something we do well as a team and that’s been something we do well with this entire year,” Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said postgame.
Vanderbilt’s defense has quickly become one of the more defensively efficient teams in the SEC. On its current three-game winning streak, Vanderbilt has not allowed a team to score 70 or more and have created an average of 13.7 takeaways per game on defense.
Whether it was a slight defensive adjustment that was made after Vanderbilt’s 93-68 loss to Arkansas on Jan. 20, or players locking more in on the scouting report, the Commodores have played noticeably better on defense. Through its first six SEC games, Vanderbilt surrendered 71 or more in every game. Since then, Ole Miss is the only of the three teams to score more than 56 points.
But it is not just Byington and his guys that notice how they have improved, other coaches know the issue of having to deal with Vanderbilt’s quick defensive hands, especially in the backcourt.
“I think their point guard is very quick and he’s [Tanner] got great anticipation. And I think Mark’s giving them a little bit of freedom in their defensive system to kind of go make plays, his teammates do a good job of taking up for him when he makes a gamble or a lunge,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said.
In the span of a week, Vanderbilt’s defensive efficiency has quickly climbed the statistical rankings. After Vanderbilt had what Byington called an “embarrassing” performance against Arkansas, especially defensively, the Commodores performance on defense of late has now placed them as the third best in the SEC in defensive efficiency rating with a rating of 96.8, according to KenPom. That’s good for 18th-best in college basketball.
Vanderbilt is at the halfway point of SEC play as it looks to get healthy during its midweek bye. To say it is a good time for Vanderbilt to catch its breath a little bit would be an understatement. Vanderbilt is hoping for the return of guards Duke Miles and Frankie Collins very soon, which gives an improved Vanderbilt defense an added boost.
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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