Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (2-0) continued its season against Southeast Missouri (0-2) in Memorial Gymnasium after taking down Maryland Eastern Shore in its season opener. Vanderbilt took control in the second half of the contest, beating the Redhawks 85-76. Jason Edwards, Tyler Nickel, Grant Huffman, Jaylen Carey and Devin McGlockton earned the start for the Commodores. Star Michigan State transfer AJ Hoggard was available for this game — despite being suspended for the first game of the season — but did not start.
The Commodores had another rough night from beyond the arc, converting just 3-of-25 attempts. Still, the offense managed to put up 85 points while McGlockton earned his second double-double of the season.
“[It’s an] entirely new team,” Byington said. “We are figuring things out. You can put a sign on our locker room right now — ‘Work in progress.'”
Vanderbilt got off to a slow start, as Southeast Missouri won the tip, and BJ Ward cashed in a three from deep to get things rolling. A quick layup by Edwards made it 3-2, but back-to-back buckets by the Redhawks made it 7-2 with 17:10 remaining. A foul by Elliot Lowndes gave Carey — who went 3-of-9 from the line on Tuesday — two free throws, and he cashed in both shots. However, Ward made another bucket from beyond the arc to keep momentum on the Redhawks’ side. At the first media timeout with 15:50 left in the half, Southeast Missouri held a 10-4 lead, and Byington opted to sub in Hoggard.
Hoggard made an immediate impact, making a quick jumper and then getting to the line for two shots to shrink the Redhawks’ lead to eight. Solid defense by Tyler Tanner and Hoggard led to back-to-back steals and set up several scoring opportunities for Vanderbilt. MJ Collins collected an offensive rebound and hit an easy layup as Southeast Missouri led 16-12 with 12:22 left in the first half. An easy putback by Chris Manon capped off an 8-0 run for the Commodores.
“He’s a defensive menace,” Nickel said of Tanner’s performance. “You put him out there, and he’s super quick and super athletic. He’s really smart too.”
After a two-minute scoring drought for both teams, Southeast Missouri’s Trey Cole and Tanner traded buckets before Edwards cashed in a three, getting fouled in the process. The four-point play tied the game back up at 20-20 with 9:16 left in the first half. Nickel then proceeded to get fouled on an easy layup, pulling the Commodores ahead for the first time in the game, 23-20.
Byington adjusted and had his team attack the paint heavily, drawing multiple fouls on the Redhawks’ players. Vanderbilt reached the bonus with 10 minutes left in the half and the double bonus with 8 minutes left. Two made free throws by Edwards put the Commodores ahead 25-22, but another three-pointer by TJ Biel tied it back up.
Both teams traded buckets, and another made foul shot by Hoggard, and a pull-up jumper by Collins gave Vanderbilt the lead right back, 33-28. Two more made foul shots by Tanner and a layup by Collins gave Vanderbilt a 37-31 lead with 3:06 remaining in the half. The Redhawks responded with a hook jumper by Brendan Terry.
The Commodores ended the final three minutes of the half with zero made field goals, while Southeast Missouri’s Biel and Ward combined for five points in the last 40 seconds to keep the score close at 38-40. Vanderbilt went just 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half.
“Shot selection [needs improvement],” Byington said postgame. “We rushed some shots, and we took some ill-advised ones. We want to play fast, and we want to play aggressive, but we also want to play smart.”
The Commodores went right back to work to begin the second half as Carey made an easy bucket in the paint. A three-point play from McGlockton and a layup from Edwards put the Commodores up 47-41 with 18:06 remaining in the game.
An and-1 by Edwards put the Commodores up eight as they started dominating on both ends of the floor. A Nickel 3-pointer gave the Commodores a 56-45 lead with 15:49 remaining. Southeast Missouri then went on an 8-0 run to pull back within striking distance, headlined by back-to-back triples from Biel and Teddy Washington.
Layups from McGlockton and Manon righted the ship for Vanderbilt and extended its lead to 60-53 with 12:45 left in the game. Southeast Missouri once again found itself in foul trouble as the Commodores reached the bonus with 10:32 left in the half. McGlockton shot one-and-one, making both to expand the lead to nine points. Several foul shots made by Commodores brought their lead back to 11 as they led 68-57.
Once again, Southeast Missouri hung in and cut the lead down to two. Two threes from Washington and Ward pushed the score to 70-65 with 7:42 remaining in the game. Hoggard and Collins combined for back-to-back buckets to get the lead back to nine.
A mid-range jumper made by Collins and several foul shots brought Vanderbilt’s lead to eight. Two more free throws by Hoggard put the Commodores up 80-70 with 3:11 remaining. A final layup by McGlockton allowed the Commodores to cruise to victory, up 82-70 with two minutes left. A final set of free throws sealed the deal for Vanderbilt, as it took the victory, 85-76.
Despite the win, the Commodores failed to efficiently shoot from beyond the arc, making just 3-of-25 and were never able to pull away from the Redhawks.
“It’s really early. Sometimes you just have days like that,” McGlockton said. “We’ve got guys that can shoot. We’re not worried about that.”
Vanderbilt will now look to extend its winning streak as it takes on the California Golden Bears on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. CST.
