NASHVILLE — When Vanderbilt guard Jason Edwards was storming the field with the rest of the Commodores’ student body and some of his basketball teammates after the Vandy football team’s monumental upset of No. 1 Alabama in October, the vision for what happened Saturday just a few hundred yards away inside Memorial Gymnasium came into focus.
“We were a part of that Alabama storm on the field, and we kind of huddled up, looking around like ‘this is going to be us soon’,” Edwards said after scoring a game-high 18 points in the Commodores’ 76-75 win over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday.
At that point, the Commodores were nothing but a group of unheralded transfers picked to finish last in the SEC. They hadn’t played a game, and few outside of their own inner circle would have predicted a win like this monumental victory against the Volunteers was coming.
But Saturday’s result was merely the product of what’s been brewing for over two months now under a first-year coaching regime in a brutally challenging SEC. Coming off a 9-23 season that led to the firing of Jerry Stackhouse and the hiring of Mark Byington from James Madison, the Commodores (15-3, 3-2 SEC) are proving themselves to be a force.
An overhauled roster entered at No. 5 nationally in turnover margin and never got overheated by Tennessee’s relentless pressure defense, finishing with just 11 turnovers while weathering a late surge from the Volunteers (16-2, 3-2). The finish was plenty dramatic, as it required Tennessee star Chaz Lanier to miss a potential game-tying free throw with two seconds remaining.
The late tension made the celebration all the more exuberant, as Vanderbilt students poured onto the court when the ricochet from Lanier’s miss fluttered out of bounds at he buzzer. They were celebrating the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since March 10, 2023 and Vanderbilt’s second victory over Tennessee in its last 15 tries.
“I was happy for our players,” Byington said. “I was happy for the fans, former players and alumni. When you’re trying to build something, you want people to buy in.”
Byington was admittedly “distraught” when Vanderbilt dropped its SEC home opener 76-64 to Mississippi State less than two weeks ago, wondering what it might do to the psyche of a fanbase that hasn’t cheered for an NCAA Tournament team since 2017.
“We had a great crowd against Mississippi State, and I was sitting here thinking I was like, ‘we’ve got to get them to come back and to believe in us,'” Byington said. “Today, seeing this, I know they can walk around with pride in the V on their chests.”
Memorial Gymnasium was sold-out for the first time since 2019 and divided evenly between fans of both teams. The roars came mostly from Commodores fans in the second half as Vanderbilt dislodged the usually steady Tennessee defense by making five of its first six attempts from 3-point range to build a lead that proved insurmountable, albeit narrowly.
Jason Edwards and Tyler Nickel combined to make seven 3-pointers to lead the charge for Vanderbilt, which entered the day as one of the “Last Four In” the projected NCAA Tournament field by CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm. The win marked the second Quad 1 victory for Vandy and showcased the depth of the SEC.
With a nonconference strength of schedule ranked 347th nationally by KenPom.com, the ‘Dores needed something more than victories over conference bottom-feeders LSU and South Carolina to prove their legitimacy following a 13-1 start.
On Saturday, it came in memorable fashion. Edwards and the basketball team wanted their marquee moment like the football team in October. But, Edwards added, “we knew what came with that.”
“A lot of people just see the storm, see the wins, see the glory,” said Edwards, a North Texas transfer. “They don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. So we knew we were going to have to keep our head down and work every day to be here. Today, being out there and seeing it happen, it was a surreal feeling.
“We prayed for times like this, and we worked for times like this.”
Next up is trying to sustain success in the nation’s toughest conference. Games at No. 4 Alabama and vs. No. 8 Kentucky loom next week, which perhaps explains Byington’s relatively muted reaction to an early signature victory.
“I’m an even-keeled guy,” he said. “I walked off the court, didn’t want to get run over. And then I was thinking about what we’ve got to do next.”
