Takeaways From Vanderbilt Basketball's 81-80 Loss to Missouri – Sports Illustrated

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Somehow, some way Vanderbilt basketball had hope as Tyler Tanner let it fly from beyond half court, but as Tanner's shot jumped off the front rim and hit the back one, the heartbreak ensued.
Vanderbilt's 21-point comeback fell short as Missouri made it pay for everything that went wrong for it prior to Tanner's shot. With that reality, Tanner's shot went from a potential all-time great one to a forgettable one.
Here's a few takeaways from that outing.
A heartbreaker to forget
An identity crisis is too strong of a descriptor for how this has played out–Vanderbilt did win Saturday against Texas A&M on Saturday, after all–but this was the type of night that this team needs to forget by the time it wakes up tomorrow morning. It was a nice comeback, but a night to forget as a whole.
Pack it up. Get on the bus with no milkshakes in hand. Take in the heartbreak. Forget any chance of winning the SEC regular season title. Pray that Duke Miles can be back by Saturday. Get to the Huber Center and get ready for Tennessee. That’s the type of night this was and the reaction that it elicits. 
Tyler Tanner fouled a 3-point shooter. Devin McGlockton missed a bunny. Tyler Nickel missed a number of open shots from 3-point range. Yes, really. That was the tip of the iceberg on the number of mistakes that this group made on Wednesday. That was entirely out of character. It was almost stunning that Vanderbilt was in this thing. 
Time to flush that one. It happens. But, don’t let it turn into two losses. 
That was an unbelievable comeback
Missouri didn’t feel comfortable breaking the press and Vanderbilt knew it. Mark Byington’s team jumped on Mizzou and cut this to one despite being down 21 at the 8:41 mark in the second half. 
Nickel made an off-platform 3 before Missouri’s pass was intercepted by Tanner and his circus shot to win almost became one of the best shots in program history. It rimmed out, though. 
That was reminiscent of the comeback this group made against Oklahoma a few weeks back. Unfortunately for this Vanderbilt team, both of them fell short. 
Where was Vanderbilt’s supporting cast?
Tanner went for 27 points–albeit on relatively inefficient shooting–which was good enough for Vanderbilt to win. But, he needed help. Spoiler alert; he didn’t get it. 
McGlockton was perhaps Vanderbilt’s best performer for a long stretch of Wednesday night as he went for 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. That’s where the help stopped until the comeback, though. 
Nickel went for 11 points on 11 shots. AK Okereke–who had been as good of a complementary player as anyone prior to Wednesday–went for nine and didn’t produce much prior to Vanderbilt’s comeback. Jalen Washington had just six points on 2-for-7 shooting. Mike James and Chandler Bing combined for six points. Tyler Harris went for three on 1-for-6 shooting. 
Can’t win that way, especially without Miles on the floor. 
This group could be even better than it’s been if it got what it thought it was getting from Mike James and Tyler Harris
This Vanderbilt team has exceeded just about everyone’s expectations, but it had the opportunity to be significantly better than it is these days. 
Vanderbilt’s coaching staff appeared to believe that they would get more out of James and Harris than they’ve gotten to this point. But, it appears as if this isn’t going to happen for them like they thought it would when they recruited James as a high-upside piece that they bought low and Harris as a supposed elite catch and shoot guy. 
Both have had opportunities to demonstrate that those expectations are realistic, particularly with Miles and Frankie Collins out, but neither have proven it. Perhaps they’ll come up big when Vanderbilt needs them to in March, but neither have been able to step up much in this stretch that Vanderbilt has been shorthanded.
Talk about uncharacteristic
Devin McGlockton earned two flagrant fouls on Wednesday night and was sitting on the bench having to reflect on what he had done for a significant portion of Wednesday’s second half. 
McGlockton had two career flagrants heading into Wednesday night. That was a microcosm of the night in some ways.
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, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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