Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (3-0) continued its nonconference schedule with a showdown against the California Golden Bears (2-1) in Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The win was the Commodores’ first victory against a non-SEC power conference opponent in the regular season since they defeated Pittsburgh in 2021. Michigan State transfer AJ Hoggard made his first start for Vanderbilt alongside Jason Edwards, Grant Huffman, Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton. While Vanderbilt had another off night from deep, shooting 7-of-30, it was dominant on defense, forcing 20 California turnovers. Edwards led the way with 18 points, McGlockton added 16 and Tyler Tanner put in 14 points and three steals.
“I was happy to see our improvement. No one knows how good this team is going to be, so improvement is huge,” head coach Mark Byington said. “Our defensive intensity changed the game around. 18 steals is a lot.”
First half
California won the opening tip-off, coming down the court fast as DJ Campbell put up a quick shot and missed. The Commodores responded by racing up the floor, with McGlockton charging forward to earn a tough and-one layup versus the Golden Bears’ center. Both sides traded blows at a fast pace, with layups coming in from Huffman and Hoggard each before Andrej Stojakovic tossed in a floater-and-one for California.
The two teams ended up in sloppy situations during the intense speed of play, turning the ball over a combined five times in the first five minutes. Hoggard eventually smoothed things out with another score. A California miss turned into an assist from Huffman to McGlockton for a nifty up-and-under reverse finish. Coming into the first media timeout of the night, the Commodores led 11-7.
McGlockton and Hoggard continued to make their impacts felt after the timeout. Hoggard started by sinking a pull-up jumper. Two possessions later, McGlockton notched his second block of the day by slamming a layup attempt from BJ Omot down, which Huffman gathered for another rebound and took down the court to launch a masterful alley-oop to JQ Roberts. California responded eagerly, slowing down the pace by putting in its next two field goal attempts. The Golden Bear’s run was eventually broken up by a timely jump shot from Edwards. Still, though, California kept its foot on the gas, with Omot hitting a 3-pointer to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 17-14.
Omot expanded on his seven-point start, adding in two more with a tough finish late in the shot clock, only to be baited into a shooting foul on MJ Collins on the next possession, giving the Vanderbilt guard three shots from the charity stripe. The explosive plays from the Commodores kept coming, and thus, California was forced to use its first timeout of the game.
After Hoggard stole a bad pass, Nickel earned his first points of the day on a triple from the wing. Then, Stojakovic was stripped by Tanner, who threw the ball down with an emphatic dunk. Coming out of the timeout, Vanderbilt forced another Cal turnover, but a darting Hoggard missed the layup attempt. Tanner flew up from behind him, slamming a putback dunk in. Vanderbilt dominated this time, holding Cal without a field goal for 2:51 and leading at the 8:00 media timeout 29-18 with a McGlockton score as a finishing touch before the break.
The Commodores maintained pressure on the Golden Bears, who were struggling to keep up. A Lee Dort layup from underneath the basket was immediately countered by a Nickel layup at the other end. A Tanner steal and driving layup was upstaged by a Stojakovic 3-pointer, but another fastbreak shot from Tanner — this time a three-pointer — shot the lead up to 39-23. Omot mitigated the damage by fighting for another interior basket before McGlockton and Campbell traded scores to keep the Commodores’ lead level at 14.
With time dwindling in the first half, California remained determined to chip at Vanderbilt’s lead. Vanderbilt had an answer, though, responding to each of the Bears’ baskets with its own. A fantastic first half for the Commodores would end with them breaking through California’s resistance, gathering four points off three straight turnovers. Vanderbilt headed into the locker room up 49-31.
Second half
Vanderbilt’s ferocity did not falter over the break, with Hoggard kicking off the second half by stripping Campbell on California’s opening possession before giving it up for Edwards, who knocked in a shot from deep. The Golden Bears’ found their footing quickly, pushing out a 6-0 run in 1:34 that was interrupted by a McGlockton jump shot from the free throw line. California continued its surge regardless, coercing Vanderbilt into two shooting fouls and a handful of shot misses to get the lead down to 12. The score would balloon back up after Hoggard splashed in an open three, giving Vanderbilt a 15-point lead five minutes into the second half.
Stojakovic, unwilling to go away, came out of the timeout and sank his second 3-pointer of the night. Jaylen Carey got himself on the board by putting in two free throws after a foul. From there, both teams went on a dry spell, going a combined 0-for-4 until Rytis Petraitis snagged an offensive rebound and was fouled while scoring the putback for California. Vanderbilt’s lead was cut down to nine by Omot, who took a rebound coast to coast as he connected on a stepback jump shot. However, Vanderbilt retaliated, turning the fifteenth and sixteenth California turnover into points with a Collins alley-oop layup and a subsequent driving layup from Tanner.
A 1:58 scoring drought ensued for both units before Tanner ultimately woke the crowd up with a corner three off a quick pass from Collins. California scored the next six points, with Jovan Blackshear Jr. getting an and-one layup, supplemented by a Campbell triple off of a McGlockton offensive foul. McGlockton took control and scored on Vanderbilt’s ensuing two possessions, getting the lead back up to 15 with 7:37 to go.
California attacked the basket down the stretch, attempting to stay in the game by getting to the free-throw line. The Golden Bears’ would make five free throws over the course of one minute but were ultimately repelled by seven points from Edwards and a free throw from Carey. The pair’s efforts gave the Commodores their first 20-point margin of the night. With a healthy lead, Vanderbilt slowed down its pace, controlling possession as California scrambled for quality looks. The Commodores would ultimately cruise for the final four minutes, finishing the game with their third straight win, 85-69.
“It’s not easy. You have to gel [and] find styles. This takes time,” Byington said. “By the time we get to SEC play, we better have our identity.”
Vanderbilt will aim to keep its winning streak alive as it hosts Jackson State on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. CST.
