Is This When Vanderbilt Basketball Gets Back to Being Elite?; Column – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—-That was classic modern-era Vanderbilt basketball in this rivalry series encapsulated. 
Vanderbilt was on the ropes at its own place against Rick Barnes’ Tennessee team down the stretch and—despite being the objectively better team—faltered down the stretch and allowed Tennessee to continue its dominance in this series. It all lined up for this to be a Vanderbilt win, yet Ja’Kobi Gillespie was running around the Memorial Gymnasium flexing the white letters on his jersey.
When Tennessee’s players ran through the tunnel and into the locker room, they said the quiet part out loud.
“This is our house.”
Perhaps the claim can be written off as shortsighted since Vanderbilt and Tennessee have split the last four games in this place—as well as the last two. But, the overall claim of rivalry dominance holds up for Tennessee.
Tennessee hasn’t exactly been dominant in the Mark Byington era, but it’s still got a 2-1 series lead. As a program, it’s won eight of the last 10 and four of the last five matchups. That day, former Vanderbilt forward Jaylen Carey got his revenge on his former team and Tennessee re-established its platform as the better program in the recent history of this series.
Vanderbilt played Tennessee’s game that day and couldn’t find a way to win a slow-paced grinder or make it anything other than that. This was Vanderbilt’s second-lowest scoring output of the season to that point. Vanderbilt didn’t get pummeled on the glass like it could’ve, but it didn’t get this to be a Vanderbilt game. It never hit the shot that ended it when it could've, either. That was a Tennessee game, and Vanderbilt paid the price for that reality. Vanderbilt didn't appear to like that reality much.
“The best thing about it is that we’re gonna play them soon,” Vanderbilt forward AK Okereke said postgame. “That’s all that’s on our mind, really. We’ll focus on the next game first and then we’ll play them again.”
Well. That time is here.
The indicators outside of the tangible head-to-head results indicate that this series could be on the verge of flipping, but it hasn’t yet. Could Saturday be the day that Vanderbilt finally gets it done at Thompson-Boling Arena?
More importantly: can this be the day that Vanderbilt puts it all together again, plays a complete game and looks like a second-weekend team again? Can this be the evidence that this group didn’t peak early? 
Ever since this group ran Kentucky off the floor at Memorial Gymnasium, it’s been good. It hasn’t looked second weekend good, though. It looked that way in that game, its win over Mississippi State and its loss to Florida. Since then, it hasn’t quite looked like the same team that it was when it was undefeated and had just knocked off Alabama. 
The onus is on this Vanderbilt team to prove that it’s still elite. It’s got the same roster that it did the last time it was. Why can’t it be? Why hasn’t it been? 
Perhaps the level of competition plays a bigger role in this than it’s given credit for. Playing nearly exclusively quad one games has likely worn down Vanderbilt in some ways. Its general level of production hasn’t been all that encouraging, though. 
Since the Kentucky win at Memorial Gymnasium, Vanderbilt is 2-3 in games decided in the final minute, 5-4 overall and has fallen to No. 7 in the SEC in offensive efficiency. Vanderbilt also hasn’t made more than 30% of its shots from 3-point range in any game since its last matchup with Tennessee. The Commodores are still No. 1 in the league opponent turnover percentage, No. 3 in defensive efficiency and have all the pieces they used to have. That’s good enough to be considered good. A few things have to turn for this to rub shoulders with elite again, though. 
Tyler Nickel has to get right. He’s shooting just 6-for-34 from 3-point range in Vanderbilt’s last four games. So does Duke Miles. Vanderbilt is 2-2 since Miles’ return, shooting 44% from the field and 29.4% from 3-point range. Miles is averaging 13.5 points per game since his return, but is shooting just 34.7% from the field. The Vanderbilt guard is making 37.5% of his shots from 3-point range since his return. Vanderbilt appears to be in a similar boat of adjustment. 
“It's a big adjustment because I've been out,” Miles said of the way Vanderbilt has to play with and without him. “A team gets so used to playing one way and then you have to adjust that way and get used to playing that way, then back adjusting. So it is very hard.”
The bad news; Vanderbilt still hasn’t turned the corner. The good news for it; it’s still got Saturday, a game at Bridgestone Arena and at least one NCAA Tournament game to do it. Can it, though? 
Vanderbilt is likely to be an underdog as it heads to Knoxville on Saturday, but this appears to be as good a chance as any for it to turn the figurative corner. It’s as good a time as any for Miles and Nickel to do that individually. That’s been the case for a few weeks, though. 
Maybe this rivalry and all that comes with it can be the turning point, though. 
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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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