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No. 19 Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball took on archrival Tennessee in Memorial Gym on Feb. 21 in front of a sold-out crowd — the first meeting of the two teams this season. The Commodores were defeated by their in-state rival, 65-69, falling to 21-6 on the season.
The return of former Commodore Jaylen Carey added plenty of heat to this matchup, as the Volunteers forward played for Byington just a season ago. The return of star Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles also added some intrigue, as the graduate had been out since Jan. 24 after having surgery on his knee.
“For [Miles] to miss the time he did [and] be able to come out play like that today was really impressive,” head coach Mark Byington said postgame on the return of Miles. “He made some timely shots [but] the biggest thing to help us out with was the assists. I think he had six assists. Having another play-maker on the court was really big.”
The game was closely contested throughout the opening minutes, but Vanderbilt was eventually able to create some separation late in the first half to take a 35-31 lead at the break. Tyler Tanner led the way with 11 points through the first 20 minutes, going perfect from beyond the arc and the field to set a strong tone for the Commodores.
The contest was extremely close in the second half, though, as each team traded consistent blows. Tanner eventually missed the game-tying 3-pointer, sending the Volunteers back to Knoxville with a win.
“Both teams competed extremely hard, and [it’s] unfortunate from the side we are right now [as] they got us with the score,” Byington said postgame. “It was a close, hard fought game. I thought we came into the game the right way [and] played the right way. The frustrating thing that sticks out right now [is that] we just left too many things out there that I think we’re capable of. They’re a tremendous defensive team [and] tremendous rebounding team, but you know, there’s mistakes here and there that we just got to be able to do to be able to beat a team like that.”
Byington did not opt to start Miles, despite him being the go-to backcourt mate for Tanner, as he went with AK Okereke, Jalen Washington, Tyler Nickel, Devin McGlockton and Tanner to round out the starting five.
First half
Tennessee won the opening tip and immediately went to work, as Nate Ament hit a tough layup in the paint. McGlockton responded with a quick triple on the other end, getting the Commodores on the board.
The crowd was extremely active from the start of the game, as Carey received a less than warm welcome to Memorial Gym, hearing some deafening boos each time he touched the ball.
Both teams exchanged several buckets in the early going of the game, as each converted several 3-pointers, including McGlockton and star Tennessee guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, for the Volunteers to take a 9-8 lead at the first media timeout with 16:00 to go.
Vanderbilt had not hit a field goal in over three minutes as the clock winded down to around the 14:00 mark, giving Tennessee the 15-10 lead. Tanner finally broke the drought, hitting a tough layup on the inside before Chandler Bing hit a deep ball to bring Vanderbilt’s deficit to 2 points at 15-17.
Bing hit yet another 3-pointer — his second made field goal in just 45 seconds — to give the Commodores the lead for a moment. The second media timeout then arrived at 11:24 with the Volunteers up 19-18.
Tanner quickly stole the ball off an errant inbound pass, before hitting an extremely deep 3-pointer to stretch the Commodores’ lead to 2 points. Tennessee’s Felix Okpara hit an alley-oop before Washington did the same exact thing, silencing each contingent of fans in the arena. Vanderbilt had mounted a 27-23 lead at the third media timeout with 7:24 to go in the half.
Vanderbilt came out of the break hot, hitting four of its last four field goals to extend its lead to 7 points at 32-25. Miles finally began to hit his stride late in the half, hitting a bucket and two free throws to get his point total to 4. Tennessee’s Amari Evans hit a tough layup right before the final media timeout hit at 3:57, but the Volunteers were down 34-27.
Both teams then went on a significant scoring drought, with neither side hitting a field goal in over two and a half minutes. Carey finally broke the drought, hitting a pivotal bucket underneath the rim to force Byington to call a timeout.
The half arrived with Vanderbilt in front, 35-31, in a tight contest where neither team could pull away. The Commodores shot 46% from the field and 42% from deep, far better than Tennessee’s just 14% clip from beyond the arc.
Second half
Washington began the half by missing two free throws, before DeWayne Brown II threw down a massive dunk, much to the delight of the Tennessee crowd. Perhaps those missed shots from the charity stripe were a bad omen, as Tennessee then scored 6 straight points to take a lead.
Tanner responded with a circus 3-pointer to give the lead right back to his team, as the first media timeout of the half arrived at 15:15 and Vanderbilt up 40-39. Tennessee then turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, allowing Vanderbilt to go on a 6-0 run. Okereke capped off this run with two made free throws.
Miles then hit a step-back triple to get Vanderbilt’s lead to 7 points as a media timeout hit at 11:58.
Tennessee stormed back, though, eventually tying the ball game at 51-apiece after Ethan Burg hit a tough layup. Despite a clean midrange jumper from Washington to keep the Commodores afloat, the Volunteers had taken a 55-53 lead at the 7:25 mark.
Vanderbilt had entered a scoring drought that lasted for over three minutes, causing its deficit to grow to 4 points. A huge sequence where Bing dropped an easy bucket and then Nickel hit a 3-pointer got Vanderbilt right back on track to a 58-57 lead, as Memorial Gymnasium was sent into a frenzy.
Both teams traded buckets, before Miles hit an absolute circus shot to give Vanderbilt the 63-60 lead. Back-to-back buckets by Bishop Boswell gave the Volunteers the lead back, though, and Vanderbilt took a timeout to reset.
As each team traded blows, the game came down to the final 30 seconds. Okpara missed the first free throw of his one-and-one, giving the ball back to the Commodores down 1 point. Okereke missed the layup before Tanner missed the game-tying 3-pointer, sealing the game for Tennessee, 69-65.
Vanderbilt will return to action next against the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in Memorial Gymnasium.
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Men’s Basketball: Vanderbilt falls to Tennessee, 65-69, in heated rivalry matchup – The Vanderbilt Hustler
