Inside Tyler Nickel's Slump And Why He Feels He's At the End Of It – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Seven points, two field goals and two free throws later, Tyler Nickel feels as if he’s found himself. 
Nickel wasn’t anywhere near the leading scorer in Vanderbilt’s breakthrough win over Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena, but this hasn’t often been about results for him. The Vanderbilt sharpshooter took just three shots, but that was enough for him to feel as if his process was sound. 
“Tennessee really got me going,” Nickel said on Wednesday, “I wasn’t forcing anything and was letting the game come to me.” 
Nickel admits that he’s had some uncharacteristic poor performances down the stretch of the season, but appears to feel as if he’s turned a corner a bit individually as Vanderbilt has found itself as a whole. He says Tennessee was guarding him in a way that has made him feel as if he’s at the top of the scouting report, but that was alright by him. 
In Vanderbilt’s five games prior to its win over Tennessee, Nickel had made just 9-for-42 of his shots from 3-point range. In the four games before, he’d gone just 6-for-33. Prior to Vanderbilt’s Saturday win, Nickel hadn’t shot over 50% from the field in a game since Feb. 14. 
The indication, though, is that Vanderbilt hasn’t urged Nickel to change much of anything since his initial slump began. 
“There's no change there, our entire team has confidence in him,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “He has confidence in himself. 
Sometimes you’ve got to look at Steph Curry, he has some bad shooting nights and missing some shots and all that. I thought he was really productive in Tennessee. Even without making shots, he had five tough rebounds. 
He did make a huge 3 and another one, his foot was on the line. It was almost another shot. Made two crucial free throws. 
What I like about a guy like him is he knows what the SCC tournament's about, he also knows what the NCAA tournament's about, and he'll play big coming up.”
Nickel is averaging 13.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 45.7% from the field as well as 40.2% from 3-point range. If the Vanderbilt wing finishes the season at the pace he’s set this season, he’d finish the season eclipsing 40% shooting from 3-point range for the second-consecutive season. 
The Vanderbilt wing’s efficiency numbers as a whole are significantly improved relative to what they were a season ago, as well. Nickel is No. 87 in the country in offensive rating, No. 91 in effective field goal percentage and No. 216 in 3-point percentage. The difference in his game year over year is that Nickel is ranked No. 204 in two-point percentage and can’t be written off entirely as a shooter these days. 
Nickel is also in a position where there’s enough weapons around him–namely Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles–that he feels as if guarding him with a soft box-and-one defense–like he saw at times in league play a year ago–is a disadvantage for whoever Vanderbilt is playing against. That makes his slump more manageable for this group and less of a story than it would be a season ago. 
Nickel still needs to be himself for Vanderbilt to win a few games in the NCAA Tournament, but he says to face guard him and walk him around the perimeter all you want if you’re an opposing team down the stretch. 
“That's a perfect thing for offense,” Nickel said. “Like, just because they're trying to take me out of the game, we have so many good guys, like, that that's not sustainable. You can't do that and win against us because we got so many guys that can go.”
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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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