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It may not be do or die for No. 24 Vanderbilt men’s basketball, but it sure feels like Vanderbilt needs this win tonight.
The Commodores meet up with Ole Miss for the second time this season a week before the SEC Tournament begins. It is a game that was originally scheduled to be played in Nashville on March 4, but a January ice storm that hit across the southeast forced the two teams to flip home games. That is what brings us to today.
This is a game that both teams desperately want to win. For Vanderbilt, the Commodores are entering Oxford losing three of their last four games. Vanderbilt has backslid all the way into the eighth spot in the SEC and is now fighting to avoid playing on the first day of the conference tournament.
Vanderbilt could still even get a double-bye if it wins out, but the Commodores would likely need some help in that scenario. The biggest point of emphasis for Vanderbilt today is to just come out alive. The Commodores need a win to feel good about themselves again and to avoid sliding further behind in the SEC standings and in the NCAA Tournament projections.
For Ole Miss, the Rebels have one one game since they beat their rival Mississippi State on Jan. 17. Ole Miss is holding onto the 14th spot in the conference currently.
The first matchup between the two was an intriguing one. Vanderbilt led for quite a bit of the game, but Ole Miss stayed in striking distance and was a corner three-pointer away from sending the game into overtime.
Now, Vanderbilt needs to take care of business, and it is going to start with being more efficient defensively and getting its offense going.
Tipoff between Vanderbilt and Kentucky is set for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
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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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