Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (14-1, 2-2 SEC) returned to Memorial Gymnasium to face South Carolina (10-7, 0-4 SEC).
It certainly wasn’t the best basketball the Commodores have played this season, but a down-to-the-wire ending saw the Commodores emerge with a gritty 66-63 win, their first SEC home win of the season.
“We knew [tonight’s game] wasn’t going to be pretty. We talked about that for a couple of days,” head coach Mark Byington said after the game. “There [were] a lot of tough breaks that we overcame at the end, so I’m proud of my guys.”
Jason Edwards, A.J Hoggard, Chris Mañon, Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton drew the start for Vanderbilt. Edwards, who has primarily filled a true sixth-man role, got the start over Grant Huffman — who did not play.
First half
The Gamecocks won the opening tip, but Vanderbilt quickly gained possession as South Carolina elected to let the ball bounce out of bounds. The Commodores came up empty-handed on their first offensive set, however, when McGlockton was unable to handle a pass down low. Vanderbilt would go on to make three defensive stops before it got its first points — a finish by McGlockton from a quick bounce pass by Edwards. The Commodore’s defense was staunch, but South Carolina, who had taken the lead off a steal, went the length of the floor for a dunk, a second chance jumper and a layup in the paint. After not scoring for several minutes, the ball finally found the net on an MJ Collins Jr. pull-up jumper to bring the score back to 4-6 in favor of the Gamecocks.
After a media timeout, Vanderbilt came out firing, with Hoggard bringing the ball the length of the court and driving for a tough finish at the rim. The Commodores once again stopped South Carolina, but a sloppy pass led to a backcourt violation. South Carolina would benefit from the turnover shortly after when Ugusuk Morris made a 3-pointer. Nickel made it a one-point game on the next possession with a driving layup of his own. First-year Tyler Tanner looked to give the Commodores the lead on a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc, but it ran off the backside of the rim and was rebounded by South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright.
Now, with a lineup of Mañon, Tanner, Tyler, Collins and Jaylen Carey and 12 minutes left in the half, the Commodores looked, and failed, to contain the Gamecocks’ slim two-point lead. Carey turned the ball over on offense, leading to a South Carolina jumper to make the score 12-8. Carey grabbed a steal from just outside of the arc but was blocked by a defender on his layup attempt.
Vanderbilt finally put some points back on the board off a Tanner layup, which brought the score to 10-13 in favor of the Gamecocks. Edwards then brought the game back to a one-point difference when he made both of his foul shots. Seconds later, Memorial Gymnasium lit up when Edwards sank a 3-pointer to put the ‘Dores on top 15-13 — a play that originated in a South Carolina turnover due to an offensive foul. Cheers once again erupted when Carey promptly drew a charge on Vanderbilt’s defensive end. After a review of the charge play, the refs returned with two technical foul calls — one on Tanner and the other on Nick Pringle — but the charge stood.
Nickel then committed a shooting foul, which brought South Carolina’s Arden Conyers to the line. Conyers made one of his free throws to give the Gamecocks a one-point advantage, but Nickel quickly drew a foul on the other end of the court. Nickel’s two made free throws once again gave the Commodores a 17-15 lead. A held ball and a possession arrow in favor of the Black and Gold gave them the ball back right before the media timeout.
Vanderbilt took the court with 7:50 remaining after the media timeout. Both teams traded several possessions before South Carolina broke the drought off an inside dish from Cam Scott, which Collin Murray-Boyles slammed home. The Black and Gold heated back up offensively just as quietly as they had cooled off, going on an 8-0 run in just 30 seconds: A sequence with a pair of triples from Collins and Hoggard and a layup from Edwards. The 27-22 lead in favor of the Commodores forced South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris to take a timeout with 3:12 remaining in the half.
Vanderbilt returned from the timeout, running a lineup of Tanner, Hoggard, Collins, McGlockton and Mañon. Collins grabbed a steal but quickly drew a chorus of ‘ohs’ from the crowd on a missed dunk attempt. Hoggard then tried a 3-pointer from the left side off the missed dunk, but he could not get it to go either, and Vanderbilt came up empty-handed. Vanderbilt would give up four points to the Gamecocks on back-to-back possessions off fouls by Mañon and Tanner, respectively. Nickel missed a 3-point jumper on the next possession, but a travel violation put the ball back in the Commodores’ hands with 37 seconds remaining in the half. Byington — likely looking to call a set play — called a timeout.
Hoggard gave the ball to Edwards as he cut back for a made 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Vanderbilt’s defensive dominance persisted, with Hoggard collecting a steal from South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright. A nearly fullcourt shot by Collins gave the last second some excitement, but the ball rattled off the rim to end the half, where Vanderbilt held a 33-26 lead.
Second half
The second half resumed with South Carolina on offense. The Gamecocks quickly went to the line when Edwards committed a shooting foul — his second of the game. Manon was able to get a layup to go on the other end through a sea of Gamecocks for Vanderbilt’s first points of the half. A turnaround one-handed jumper by Hoggard after a Vanderbilt defensive stop gave Vanderbilt a 28-37 lead. However, South Carolina would score in its next two possessions to cut the Vanderbilt lead to four.
McGlockton’s layup at 16:15 brought some life back to a stagnant offense. Carey quickly tacked onto Vanderbilt’s lead when he worked the defender down low and finished with a right-handed layup. South Carolina promptly got a layup of its own in the paint to chip away at the deficit. That layup was the first in a 6-0 South Carolina run, which was broken when Edwards collected a pair of free throws, going one for two.
Memorial Gymnasium erupted moments later when Tanner missed a jumper but stole back the ball for a dish and finish to McGlockton. Another media timeout came at 7:59, with the Commodores holding a 56-49 lead.
Play resumed with a pair of free throws made by Wright. Vanderbilt, looking to generate some offense, was promptly stopped by the Gamecocks. South Carolina capitalized off the stop when Conyers made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to make it a two-point game. A driving layup from South Carolina on the next play evened the score at 56-apiece. After several back-and-forth scoreless possessions, Carey gave the Commodores the lead once again on a second-chance layup. Carey quickly got to work on the defensive end, logging a block and defensive rebound. The ‘Dores held a marginal 58-56 lead at the media timeout with 3:41 remaining.
A foul called on Carey and two made free throws would tie the game, this time at 58 apiece. One of two made free throws by Hoggard shortly after, though, would bring the score back in favor of the Commodores 59-58. Fans cheered when South Carolina’s Murray-Boyles missed both of his free throws, and Hoggard promptly made a pair of his own on the other side of the court to extend the lead to three points.
Ugusuk made a critical 3-point shot from the top of the arc for his 20th point of the night to even the score at 61-61. Another pair of made free throws by Hoggard and a forced turnover on defense — South Carolina’s 25th giveaway of the game — aided the Commodores.
Vanderbilt’s possession coming out of the timeout looked good until Hoggard slipped while driving to the net and had a foul called on him. The play was reviewed with the refs. It gave Hoggard a flagrant one foul, bringing Murray-Boyles to the line for a pair of made free throws.
A tough defensive stand by Vanderbilt left South Carolina calling a much-needed timeout, and they resumed possession with eight seconds left on the shot clock. A huge block by McGlockton would force a shot clock violation on South Carolina. With now just 10 seconds remaining in the game — and the score tied at 62-apiece — Byington called a timeout of his own.
Vanderbilt emerged from the timeout with Hoggard bringing the ball up.
He missed a short jumper, but McGlockton nabbed the offensive rebound and finished a putback attempt on his way to the ground to get the and-one call. McGlockton made the free throw to give his team a three-point lead with just 0.6 seconds left.
Byington and Paris then called back-to-back 30-second timeouts to draw up something for their team. A 3-point attempt from the sideline by South Carolina would bounce off the rim as the game clock expired, giving the Commodores the 66-63 win.
Vanderbilt will return to Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 18 to play No. 6 Tennessee. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST.