Three Keys and A Prediction: Vanderbilt vs. Oklahoma – Sports Illustrated

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Mark Byington and Vanderbilt basketball have a chance to keep the good times rolling at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday as Oklahoma to town.
Vanderbilt is on a three-game winning streak after gutting one out over Ole Miss a week ago, blowing out Mississippi State in Starkville and taking it to Kentucky at Memorial Gymnasium. Here's what it has to do in order to build on that momentum over the weekend. 
Don’t walk in expecting an easy outing
Vanderbilt is better than Oklahoma in just about every statistical category and has a better general state of the program in just about every way at this stage. There’s a reason they play, though. 
Oklahoma has enough on its roster to knock off Vanderbilt and is still a top 65 team in the country. It’s No. 5 in the SEC in 3-point percentage. Vanderbilt can’t act as if this is a buy game. If it brings it, though, it should win significantly. 
Porter Moser is on the hot seat and Oklahoma has lost nine in a row for a reason, though. Vanderbilt is more than capable of demonstrating why. 
Force Oklahoma to play left handed, inside the 3-point line
The Sooners have the No. 11 offense in the SEC, but are significantly better than that if they’re able to get a number of clean looks from beyond the arc. 
Oklahoma is No. 5 in the SEC in 3-point efficiency, has two guards that are difficult covers from beyond the arc and are No. 3 in the league in the number of their 3-point attempts relative to the rest of their shots. 
That’s the stat of the day for Vanderbilt. If it can limit how much Oklahoma shoots from 3-point range and how open the looks it does get then this could be a significant Vanderbilt win. Oklahoma is dangerous because of the ability of the 3-point line to equalize games, particularly games that aren’t decidedly up tempo. 
Something notable from Mike James and Chandler Bing 
There’s a non-zero chance that Vanderbilt has one of Frankie Collins and Duke Miles on the floor on Saturday, but it appears as if the odds are greater that it will be missing at least one. 
As a result, it’s time for James and Bing to step into some significant minutes again. Each of them played over 20 minutes against Ole Miss. Vanderbilt will need each of them to give it something again on Saturday, particularly defensively, if it’s going to win on Saturday. 
Time for James and Bing to step up again. 
Prediction: Vanderbilt: 83, Oklahoma: 76
Oklahoma is just dangerous enough to scare Vanderbilt here. It kept it within five against Alabama, Missouri and Arkansas, after all. Vanderbilt will likely still be shorthanded and will have to grind it out again here.
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, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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