Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (15-3, 3-2) went above .500 in SEC play after a thrilling win against No. 6 Tennessee. A split crowd — highlighted by a rowdy student section and a significant traveling Tennessee contingent — watched on as the Black and Gold upset their in-state rivals. The Commodores were the more physical and aggressive team all afternoon, as evidenced by their plus-4 rebounding margin.
Jason Edwards was the star of the show for the Black and Gold, dropping in 18 points. Jaylen Carey made a serious impact down low, pouring in 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“We prayed for times like this,” Edwards said after the game. “We work for times like this, and it was upon us. So it’s a great feeling.”
Edwards, Devin McGlockton, Chris Manon, Tyler Nickel and AJ Hoggard earned the start for Byington. Grant Huffman returned from a one-game injury absence, but head coach Mark Byington brought him off the bench.
First half
The Commodores gave their home crowd plenty to cheer for as Edwards and Nickel connected on a pair of 3-pointers to capture an early lead. Tennessee came right back with a vengeance as Zakai Zeigler and Jordan Gainey connected on a pair of shots from deep. The Volunteers drew even as Zeigler found a wide-open Felix Okpara under the rim for a dunk — leaving the score at 8-8 as the game entered its first media timeout.
MJ Collins Jr. kept the Black and Gold going with a stepback jumper before Igor Milicic Jr. gave Tennessee its first lead off a 3-pointer. Tennessee’s red-hot start from downtown continued as Chaz Lanier, the team’s leading scorer, knocked down his first shot of the game. An Okpara dunk and Zeigler triple made the lead 19-11 and forced Byington to call a timeout.
The ‘Dores built some momentum on the other side of the timeout as McGlockton got to the charity stripe and nailed both attempts before Manon converted on a nifty layup attempt for his first points of the game. Hoggard and Milicic traded layups before McGlockton hit two more free throws.
The crowd erupted as the Commodores forced a stop, and Hoggard found McGlockton for a slam dunk in transition offense. That excitement didn’t last long, though, as Darlinstone Dunbar hit a triple, and Mashack forced a turnover, bringing the lead back to five as the eight-minute media timeout came and went.
Edwards cut the deficit to two points off a trio of free throws before Gainey re-extended the lead with two of his own. Manon electrified the crowd after grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a putback attempt on the team’s next possession. Momentum kept going for Vanderbilt after a Collins Jr. steal turned into free throws for Manon, who tied the game at 28.
From there, Carey took over, swatting a Gainey triple and connecting on a layup down low to give Vanderbilt its first lead since it was up 10-8. Gainey got to the line on the next possession but missed both free throws before a foul sent Carey to the charity stripe on the other side, connecting on one of two.
The crowd went crazy after McGlockton and Carey teamed up for some impressive defense, forcing another shot-clock violation. Both sides traded some misses before a Milicic airball sent the contest into the final media timeout of the half, with Vanderbilt clinging to a 31-28 lead.
Edwards used the same move on back-to-back possessions to fake out his defenders and get open under the rim to extend the Commodores’ lead to seven points. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was forced to call a timeout with his team staring down an 11-0 Vanderbilt run. Lanier ended that run on the other side of the timeout with a pair of free throws, but Carey continued his paint dominance with a layup from right below the basket.
Lanier ended his team’s cold streak with a deep 3-pointer before Milicic got to the line and used two free throws to trim Vanderbilt’s lead to two points. Nickel had other plans, though, as he nailed a triple, plus the foul, to send the student section into a complete frenzy and extend the team’s lead to six points. The bitter rivals entered their respective locker rooms, with Vanderbilt leading 41-35.
A slow start for the Commodores didn’t stop them from controlling the flow of the game through the final ten minutes of the first half. Tennessee’s eight-point lead before Byington’s timeout quickly faded as Vanderbilt ended the half on a 30-16 run. It was helped by a physicality that it hadn’t played with for much of the season, getting to the line 14 times (and converting 12) compared to Tennessee’s eight.
Second half
Milicic started the second half scoring with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to cut Vanderbilt’s lead down to one point. Nickel stayed hot, though, connecting on his third 3-pointer of the game. Edwards sent the crowd into another dimension after he connected on back-to-back 3-pointers on the next two possessions to extend the Commodores’ lead to 10 points, their largest of the game. Barnes was forced to call another timeout to slow momentum.
Cheers of “defense” rained down from the crowd as Zeigler committed a turnover. Vanderbilt refused to slow down as Nickel found himself wide open on the left wing for another 3-pointer, making the lead 53-40. Okpara converted an and-one opportunity to end the run and bring his team back within 10 points. Hoggard got in on the scoring with a tough layup through the lane as Lanier cut the deficit to single digits after a tough stepback triple.
Edwards and Okpara traded layups before Hoggard drilled a second-chance 3-pointer to bring the lead back up to 12 points. Zeigler quieted things as he drove through the lane and connected on a scoop layup, bringing the game into a media timeout with Vanderbilt leading, 60-50.
Carey used his 6’8 frame to bully Lanier down low and drop in a layup before Zeigler converted on a pair of shots at the line.
Moments later, Collins Jr. created what many would call Vanderbilt’s best play of the year, throwing down a mean dunk on Gainey to bring the lead back to 12. The high-flying junior had a few near-highlight dunks early in the season, and he finally had his sports center moment on Saturday afternoon.
MJ Collins are you kidding me????pic.twitter.com/nK8zi8Dtuh
— Aiden Rutman (@RutmanAiden) January 18, 2025
Carey once again fought through contact down low and earned — and connected — on two free throws. Tyler Tanner electrified the crowd as he stripped Zeigler of the ball and threw down a transition slam, but an Okpara dunk silenced the crowd soon thereafter. Lanier hit his fourth triple of the game to cut the deficit to 11 points, but Carey connected on a putback layup to end the quick 5-0 run.
Okpara split a pair of free throws, and Tennessee forced a shot-clock violation on the ensuing possession. Vanderbilt clamped up on defense, and Edwards used his speed and basketball IQ to find McGlockton for a layup on the next possession. Zeigler saved a nearly disastrous Tennessee possession with a tough layup of his own before Hoggard missed a 3-pointer badly and committed another shot-clock violation.
Tennessee kept the defensive intensity up and forced another violation as it cut Vanderbilt’s lead back to 10. More Volunteer free throws saw Vanderbilt’s lead shrink to eight points as the Tennessee faithful got loud. Carey corralled an offensive rebound and nailed another putback before Okpara threw a slam dunk down to fire Tennessee back up.
Hoggard absorbed contact and was fouled on a drive, bringing the game into its final media timeout of the game with 3:48 remaining and Vanderbilt leading 74-66. He connected on both shots to bring the lead back to double digits. Hoggard turned the ball over on Vanderbilt’s next offensive possession, but Tanner held Tennessee off of the scoreboard with an impressive block. That didn’t last for long, though, as Milicic threw a ferocious slam down.
Both sides traded misses and fouls before Hoggard threw the ball away, his third turnover of the game. With less than two minutes to go, Tennessee cut the lead to six with a Milicic layup.
Lanier stole Vanderbilt’s ensuing rebound and put a layup in to make the score 76-72 as Tennesee’s fans exploded. Edwards missed on a contested layup as Zeigler found space on offense and drew a foul, sending him to the free-throw line. He hit both attempts and cut the lead to just two points as the arena noise grew deafening. Hoggard missed on a triple with just 17 seconds left as Milicic corraled the rebound, sprinted up the court and called a timeout.
With 11.9 seconds left, the shot clock was turned off and Tennessee had a chance to tie or win the game.
Zeigler inbounded to Lanier, who beat Manon to the basket, but not for long. Manon recovered and pinned the layup on the backboard to seemingly clinch the game for Vanderbilt as Tanner was fouled and sent to the line but came up empty at the line.
“He’s buying into his role that we need him [on defense],” Byington said of Manon. “There are different ways to win the game, and that block was a big one.”
Lanier was fouled after the rebound and went to the line, making his first attempt but missing his second. Vanderbilt batted the rebound around before time expired and the game ended.
Students immediately rushed onto the court to celebrate the Commodores’ 76-75 upset.
Vanderbilt weathered the storm during a 3-plus minute scoring drought to pull off arguably its best upset of the 2020s and improve to 15-3. The Commodores will look to keep building on the momentum of that win