How Vanderbilt Was Able to Adjust and Beat McNeese – Sports Illustrated

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Feelings of tension filled the air of PayCom Center as McNeese guard Jacolb Fredson-Cole spotted up and drilled the Cowboys’ fourth three-pointer of the game. The shot gave McNeese a 24-15 lead in the first half over No. 5 seed Vanderbilt with 10 minutes to go before halftime.
The anxious feelings were in the air because of all the external factors that were out of Vanderbilt’s control: the Commodores were trailing a big underdog while playing in a crowd that was actively rooting for the underdogs. Loud, ruckus cheers filled the arena every McNeese basket while it quieted for every Vanderbilt shot.
Those tense feelings never got to Vanderbilt, though. In fact, Vanderbilt was calm, cool and collected through the game when it was trailing and when it was leading. And ultimately, that comfortability in the chaos led Vanderbilt to a 78-68 win in the Round of 64, its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2012.
“We kind of knew what we had to do, but it's different when you really get into the game and the pace of the game. But we settled in, found what we needed to find and got comfortable with it,” Vanderbilt wing Tyler Nickel said.
Vanderbilt knew all it had to do was just settle in. McNeese threw the first punch by building a lead from shooting above its season averages early in the game. But once Vanderbilt settled into the game, it locked in and went on a 23-11 extended run to close the half and go up three points going into the locker.
Schematically, the reason Vanderbilt found itself in a hole was due to its uncharacteristic ball handling. The Commodores turned the ball over eight times in the half and that led to 13 McNeese points all while they only took the ball away three times.
How was Vanderbilt able to turn the tide and shift the momentum in its favor before halftime?
‘I think the thing that flipped the switch was we needed to be more aggressive against the press,” Vanderbilt forward AK Okereke said. “Once we started looking down and attacking rather than just doing our best to get through it, I think that is what the flip was.”
In the second half, Vanderbilt continued to stay calm, survived and advanced as guys like Tyler Tanner stepped up in the biggest moments. Vanderbilt’s aggressive nature came out more in the second as the Commodores guarded more efficiently while shooting the ball at 50 percent in the second half
Perhaps the most revealing thing that was shown in the midst of the come from behind win was the fact that this Vanderbilt team is not just a resilient team, but a team that plays tightly together, understands each other and wins because of it.
“It showed a lot of resiliency out of us. Just being in that position and then coming back and finishing the way that we did,” Nickel said.
The culture that head coach Mark Byington has built in just two short years has been described as a “family environment.” Getting over a slow start in a win-or-go-home situation shows the togetherness the family-like atmosphere the roster has.
It is impressive for any team in the NCAA Tournament to come back and win after a slow start that makes it trail by double digits. But Vanderbilt did it. How are the Commodores able to stay calm in the chaos and not even get a little anxious or tense?
“Coach told us when we came here and after the game, especially looking forward to Nebraska, it’s only us. The people we have in this locker room. I mean, I have six people here and a couple of my teammates have a couple family members here, but at the end of the day, it’s only us. We lean on each other so much,” Tanner said. “We try not to focus on the external factors or anything. I think that’s something that will help us down the road because it’s helped us all season.
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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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