Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball will travel to Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday to play Missouri in its third SEC matchup of 2025. Looking to turn it around after dropping their home opener, head coach Mark Byington and his Commodores hope to improve their SEC record to 2-1 in a chase for a NCAA Tournament bid.
Vanderbilt beat Missouri in Nashville last year, one of the Commodores’ nine total wins and four conference wins. This year the Commodores travel to Columbia with a 13-2 record and 1-1 record in SEC play. Missouri shares the same SEC record, and both teams have played two common opponents in LSU and California — which both schools beat.
The Commodores will have to look past their disappointing offensive performance against the Mississippi State Bulldogs when they shot 35% from the field (its lowest of the season) and 19.2% from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Missouri is coming off a 16-point win over LSU when its defense outrebounded the opposing Tigers and completely stifled their leading scorer Cam Carter (17.2 points).
Here are three things that Byington and the team will have to focus on to leave Columbia with a win.
Jason Edwards and Missouri’s defense
As mentioned earlier, Missouri completely shut down LSU’s leading scorer, Cam Carter, who only scored four points in the first half. While Carter scored 12 in the second half — close to his average of 17 points per game — Missouri was already up by 15 at halftime. Missouri’s defense will likely give Jason Edwards, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, the same treatment.
Edwards is already coming off a down game against Mississippi State when he was listed as questionable due to an injury he suffered against LSU. In the 11 minutes Edwards was in the game, he scored zero points and shot 0-for-8. If Edwards is cleared to play against Missouri, its defense will use everything possible to limit Edwards offensively.
Whether Edwards is out or limited, it’s unlikely he’ll reach his usual 17.1 points per game. This means Byington and the team need to find ways to make up the deficit. Vanderbilt’s offense will need to be creative and find some playmakers because it certainly missed Edwards’ shot-creation against Mississippi State.
Making the shot
Vanderbilt’s offensive strategy so far this season has been to attempt as many triples as possible, but it hasn’t been particularly accurate from downtown this season. Vanderbilt averages 26.1 3-point attempts per game, which ranks 72nd out of all 355 Division I basketball teams. Yet, Vanderbilt’s accuracy from deep is ranked 249th at a 32.4% rate. In a competitive and high-scoring SEC, Vanderbilt will need to improve on that number. This can start against Missouri, which ranks 274th in 3-point percentage allowed, with opposing teams shooting an average of 35%.
Keeping the ball
Missouri has played LSU and No. 2 Auburn so far in its SEC schedule. In both those games, it has recorded more than 10 steals, tied for first in the SEC with Vanderbilt. It highlights the physicality of Missouri’s defense, which will match up well with Vanderbilt’s usually high-scoring offense. While Vanderbilt will be focusing on moving past its low-accuracy game against Mississippi State — which also featured 13 turnovers — it also needs to protect the ball.
Vanderbilt cannot afford to turn the ball over and will especially need to watch out for Tamar Bates and Anthony Robinson II, who average 1.9 and 2.3 steals per game. Robinson II, at 2.3, is ranked 40th in all of Division I basketball in steals per game.
Vanderbilt will face Missouri at Mizzou Arena on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2:30 p.m. CST.
