Heartbreak Prevails and as a Result, Vanderbilt Gets to Sit With Searing Pain of Loss; Column – Sports Illustrated

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Even the generally calm, emotionless Mark Byington took a second to watch it fly and grimaced as Tyler Tanner’s prayer from past halfcourt jumped off the front rim, clanged off the back and sealed a heartbreaker for Vanderbilt basketball on Wednesday night. 
The shot would have been an all-time great shot in Vanderbilt’s program history–a statement in which Vanderbilt’s radio team of Kevin Ingram and Tim Thompson say they agree with–if it had miraculously dropped, but instead the memory of it represents what could have been on Wednesday night. Tyler Nickel bent over and touched the floor in heartbreak. Devin McGlockton put his hands on his head in disbelief. Miles Keeffe had to be held up by Mason Nicholson as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. 
That was…something. 
Tyler Tanner was this close to winning the game.
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“That would’ve been an all-timer,” a program source told Vandy on SI. 
It wasn’t, though. Vanderbilt’s comeback–in which it came back from down 21 with less than nine minutes to go in the game–was nearly miraculous. It was nearly good enough to forget about everything that happened before it. Now this group has to think about that, though. Now it has to sit with this. It probably should, frankly.
“I walked in the locker room and I was like ‘look, we know the bad side of this,’” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “The bad side of this got us down 21. The good side is the fight. Truthfully, we’ve got to turn the page quick.” 
Byington’s team fell 81-80 to Missouri, was down as much as 21 and just didn’t have the punch that it needed in order to find a way to win on Wednesday. It may not have seemed that way as Vanderbilt won at Auburn a week ago and knocked off Texas A&M on Saturday in spite of a lackluster performance from Tanner, but the margin for error is slim for this group these days. Tanner was fine enough on Wednesday. McGlockton was, too. Where was everyone else? 
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 just nine points with many of them coming late. Jalen Washington had just six points on 2-for-7 shooting. Tyler Harris was 1-for-6 with three points. Mike James and Chandler Bing combined for six points. That’s nowhere near enough for this group to find a way to win. It’s also a harsh reminder of how much this group has left out there because of James and Harris’ lack of production. 
The chances mathematically weren't all that poor as they related to Vanderbilt’s chances for a Wednesday-night win as it trailed Missouri 44-33 with just over 16 minutes left to play, but the route this one was heading wasn’t all that difficult to predict. This group didn't appear to deserve to win this game, and it didn't.
That’s how this works when Tyler Nickel misses an open 3, Tanner does the same in the following moments and Devin McGlockton misses a short floater on back-to-back-to-back shots. By the time Vanderbilt was Perhaps that sequence in itself didn’t disqualify Vanderbilt from leaving Columbia with a win, but it was an indicator that Vanderbilt may not have it on Wednesday night. 
“It was a game where the highs were high and the lows were low,” Byington said. “The offense got really tough for us and we let offense get in the way of our defense there. To get down 21, we were just out of character. On offense we were doing some things I didn’t recognize.” 
Duke Miles doesn’t magically make shots like that go in, but he makes a lot of this better. With Miles, that core of Vanderbilt’s three returners doesn’t have to stretch like they’ve obviously had to since his early-January departure from the lineup. Even if he’s not physically, Tanner looks worn out. He’s making mistakes that he normally doesn’t. Vanderbilt freshman Chandler Bing is improving as a result of the opportunity he’s gotten, but he–plus Mike James and Tyler Harris–are getting to the point where it appears as if they’re in over their head as they’re relied upon to take Miles’ minutes. 
Miles is back to jogging and the indication is that there’s some momentum towards him returning on Saturday against Tennessee, but it’s going to have to continue to scratch and claw if he can’t go. It’s not as if Vanderbilt can’t win without Miles on Saturday, but it appears to be at the end of itself without Miles’ contributions to what it does. This group wasn’t designed to play without Miles. Although it came back and made the final margin look presentable, it looks like it can’t do this without him for much longer. 
When this shorthanded group–and particularly its best players–doesn’t have it and is facing a group that appears to be somewhere near its best, a result like Vanderbilt got on Wednesday isn’t all that surprising. 
Even if it was, Vanderbilt wasn’t anywhere near sharp enough to overcome much of anything against a Missouri team that was firing on all cylinders. When it had McGlockton open down the floor, it threw it over his head. When it tried to front Missouri big man Shawn Phillips, he got position on McGlockton and punched it easily. When it had to close out on Jayden Stone, Tanner fouled him uncharacteristically. Talk about uncharacteristic, the normally understated McGlockton couldn’t stay out of technical and flagrant foul trouble. 
That’s not this Vanderbilt team. But, it was on Wednesday night. An identity crisis is too strong of a descriptor for how this has played out–it 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. 
Pack it up. Seal the wounds. Get on the bus with no milkshakes in hand. Forget any chance of winning the SEC regular season title. Process the heartbreak. Pray that Miles can be back. Get to the Huber Center and get ready for Tennessee. That’s the type of night this was and the reaction that it elicits.
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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