Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (17-7, 5-6 SEC) welcomed the No. 1 Auburn Tigers (22-2, 10-1) into Memorial Gymnasium for the second half of a two-game homestand on Feb. 11, falling 80-68. The game was destined to be an uphill battle for the Commodores — who opened the game as 9.5-point underdogs — against the nation’s top team.
A sold-out student section for the second game in a row propelled the Commodores all night but it wasn’t enough. The Black and Gold went 1-for-9 from 3-point range and turned the ball over six times in the first half alone, digging themselves into an early 15-0 hole. The Commodores cut Auburn’s lead to two points in the waning moments of the first half — largely due to a stellar final 15:20 of defense that saw them hold the Tigers to just 19 total points. Both sides entered their locker rooms with the scoreboard flashing 34-32 in favor of the visitors.
Vanderbilt came out with a vengeance in the second half, hitting two shots from deep early on to capture their first lead of the game at 43-42. From there, though, Auburn went on a 15-6 run and recaptured control of the game, which they would not relinquish. The Commodores worked hard in the first half to keep Johni Broome out of the paint — scoring just 2 points — but his size proved to be too much in the second half as the superstar went for 15 points and did whatever he wanted below the basket.
Head coach Mark Byington went with his usual group to start, as Jason Edwards, AJ Hoggard, Devin McGlockton, Tyler Nickel and Chris Mañon opened the game.
First half
Vanderbilt won the opening tip but got off to an inauspicious start after three turnovers and an 0-for-4 start from the field — along with back-to-back triples from Auburn’s Denver Jones — put it in an early hole. Miles Kelly forced Byington to call an early timeout at the 15:54 mark after a corner triple that pushed the score to 13-0.
Edwards got Vanderbilt on the board with a nifty pump fake to get an open mid-range jumper. Grant Huffman followed up with a layup down low that got the home crowd back into it, but two more turnovers and back-to-back Dylan Cardwell buckets gave the Tigers a 19-4 lead. MJ Collins Jr. responded with a deep two-point jumper and ferocious put-back slam to bring the deficit to 10 points.
Jaylen Carey responded to a Tahaad Pettiford triple with a tip-in for his first points of the game before Tyler Tanner nabbed his second steal of the game, sending the ball to a streaking Hoggard who was later fouled. Jones hit his third 3-pointer as Chaney Johnson and Carey traded buckets in the paint. Edwards sent the game into its third media timeout with a speedy drive to the rim, plus the foul.
Mañon sent the crowd into a frenzy after the timeout with a soaring poster, and some good defense led to layups from Edwards, Carey and McGlockton that cut Auburn’s lead to just four points. Jones poured in his fourth triple of the game to end that run and bring Auburn’s lead back to seven points. It was Nickel, however, that struck gold for the Commodores, nailing two free throws and a 3-pointer to bring Vanderbilt within two points before the half’s end.
Second half
McGlokcton and Jones traded triples to open the second half. Hoggard and Broome traded free throws before McGlokcton fought for an offensive rebound and put in a layup, plus the foul.
The Commodores officially nabbed their first lead when Edwards nailed a transition triple. Carey built on that lead with a putback layup, making it 45-42, before Johnson connected on a mid-range fadeaway to tie things up.
Auburn recaptured momentum with a triple from Johnson as the visiting crowd made itself heard. Vanderbilt’s first-half offensive struggles returned as Carey traveled and Johnson stayed hot, firing in back-to-back jumpers down low. The game entered the under-12-minute timeout with the Tigers boasting a 57-49 lead and threatening to pull away. Both teams traded baskets down low as the crowds traded cheers and insults, but Auburn fans got the best of the Commodore faithful when Pettiford connected on an and-1 triple. Cheers of “Let’s Go Auburn” rained down from Memorial Gymnasium’s visiting sections as the Tigers extended their lead to double digits.
Collins got the student section fired back up with another slam dunk before McGlockton made his presence known on the offensive glass with three consecutive rebounds but Vanderbilt failed to capitalize and Jones made two free throws to bring the lead back to double figures. Vanderbilt battled but couldn’t get anything to fall from deep as Broome and Co. clamped up down low as well.
Buckets from Hoggard and Tanner kept Vanderbilt within striking distance, but Broome and Johnsons’s paint presence was too much for Vanderbilt’s undersized unit to handle. Auburn got to the line at will, shooting all 15 of its free throws in the second half.
Auburn built up a 16-point lead with less than two minutes to play and Vanderbilt simply ran out of time to complete its comeback bid. In the end, the Tigers walked out of Memorial with an 80-68 win, ending the Commodores’ three-game home winning streak.
Vanderbilt will be back in action this weekend when it hits the road to take on in-state rival No. 5 Tennessee as it looks to complete a sweep of the Volunteers.
