Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (20-9, 8-8 SEC) took on No. 14 Missouri (21-8, 10-6 SEC) for its penultimate home contest of the season on March 1. In the last meeting between the two programs, Vanderbilt suffered a loss to Missouri in Columbia on Jan. 11, falling to the Tigers 75-66 after a second-half collapse.
When all was said and done, the Commodores outlasted the Tigers 97-93 — but not before the game went to overtime. With just seconds remaining in regulation, junior Tyler Nickel nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 81-all and ultimately send the game to overtime. During the overtime period, Vanderbilt was excellent on both ends of the court, eventually coming out with its second top-15 win in as many games. The win also almost certainly solidified Vanderbilt’s spot in the fast-approaching NCAA Tournament.
“[Overtime] was almost a new life [for us],” head coach Mark Byington said after the gae. “It was a struggle in regulation, and in the second half, we were right there. I didn’t want to be satisfied about overtime. So it was a pretty stern talk, in the break, [of] ‘It’s time to go.’”
Both Chris Manon and AJ Hoggard were excellent, accumulating 23 and 21 points, respectively. Manon also led the ‘Dores on the glass, grabbing 11 rebounds, followed closely by Jaylen Carey with 10.
First half
Missouri quickly got on the board with a pair of free throws from Anthony Robinson III. Vanderbilt got its first points on the board roughly a minute later when Jason Edwards made a driving layup on an opponent turnover. Manon followed just one offensive possession later by tallying a field goal. Missouri netted a 3-pointer to cut the Vanderbilt lead to just one point at the first media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Vanderbilt had a multiple-second chance play but was unable to get it to go. Missouri got to work quickly, disposing of the Vanderbilt lead with a Caleb Grill corner three. Vanderbilt had few answers for Grill defensively, allowing the junior to make four consecutive baskets, three of which were from beyond the arc. On the other end of the court, Vanderbilt had no solutions to a smothering Missouri defense, going on a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought. The downright disorganization on both sides of the court forced Byington to take a timeout and regroup his squad.
Following the timeout, Vanderbilt seemed a lot more composed, quickly getting a much-needed basket from a Hoggard dish to Carey on the inside. After MJ Collins Jr. was stripped of the ball and Missouri transitioned to a quick three, Grill finally cooled down, air-balling a 3-pointer and giving the Commodores a much-needed stop. An 8-0 Vanderbilt run, spearheaded by a Hoggard jumper, swung the momentum back in its favor. Missouri — on a 3:23 scoring drought — took a timeout with 7:56 remaining in the first half.
Vanderbilt carried the momentum from before the break into the next series, regaining its lead on a Manon steal and transition layup. The Tigers fought back, though, breaking their scoring drought shortly after with a 3-pointer from Marques Warwick. Then, a 7-0 run by Missouri over a minute and a half gave the Tigers a six-point lead at the three-minute mark. With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Manon made a big layup to keep his team within reach of the lead and brought his game total to 14 points. Missouri kept adding to their lead, though, among Vanderbilt’s shooting woes, making a 7-0 run over the last 1:22 of the first half — while Vanderbilt made just one of its eight final field goal attempts.
Vanderbilt ended the first half down to Missouri 29-38 and shooting an abysmal 8% from beyond the arc. Manon was the bright spot of the first period of play, notching 14 points and 7 rebounds to keep the Commodores alive.
Second half
Manon quickly added to Vanderbilt’s lead to start the second half, finishing a layup down under the rim. Edwards quickly followed suit, grabbing just his fourth point of the night on a jumper and cutting the Missouri lead to five. Mark Mitchell grabbed a three-point play for the Tigers on an and-one. Vanderbilt’s offense, though — at least outside of Manon — started to heat up, with Hoggard collecting a jumper and Edwards nailing his first 3-pointer of the game. Fouls by the Commodores kept the Tigers in the lead, with the ‘Dores surrendering four points off of fouls over the course of just 23 seconds. At the first media timeout of the half, Vanderbilt was down 45-40 to the Tigers.
Following the timeout, Vanderbilt kept chipping away at the lead with buckets from Hoggard, Manon and Tyler Tanner, bringing the game within three points. Grill single-handedly refused to surrender the lead, though, collecting his 20th point with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game. A few moments later, Memorial Gymnasium erupted on a McGlockton layup and consequent held-ball on the Commodores’ defensive end. At the media timeout, the Commodores, once again, were down just three points to the Tigers.
At the 9:38 mark, Vanderbilt tied the game on a corner 3-pointer from Collins, which developed from a defensive steal from Edwards. Just one play later, Collins gave Vanderbilt a one-point lead on a deceptive driving layup. Mitchell promptly gave the Tigers two more points on a layup. Missouri clawed back to a three-point lead over the ‘Dores at the media break with 7:38 remaining in the game.
After the break, Missouri netted a quick three, but a jumper from Edwards followed by a Nickel 3-pointer and a Carey jumper to tie the score had the Commodore Faithful erupting with delight. Two made free throws from Hoggard and a full-court press continued the deafening cheers from within Memorial Gymnasium, but Missouri once again took the lead on a big 3-pointer from Jacob Crews. On two consecutive possessions, Vanderbilt was stripped of the basketball directly under the basket. Missouri capitalized on the mistakes, finding Mitchell for a jumper and a layup, bringing the Duke transfer’s total to 19. With the Tigers leading 75-71 and 2:02 remaining in the game, Byington took a timeout.
The Tigers picked right up where they left off, with Bates hitting a jumper and extending the lead to six. On the next Commodores possession, Edwards would keep his team in the game by hitting two free throw attempts. With just under one minute remaining, Grill made a long 3-point shot, which bounced off the rim but was rebounded by Robinson. Missouri head coach Dennis Gates opted to take a timeout with 46 seconds remaining in the game and a four-point Tigers lead. Missouri successfully inbounded the ball, but when it worked it out to Mitchell, he got tied up, ultimately turning over the ball out on an out-of-bounds call. Now, Byington took a timeout of his own, drawing up a play for his team with just 35 seconds remaining in the contest.
With the clock winding down, Edwards drove for the net but slipped, resulting in a Commodore baseline-inbound on a held ball call. The Commodores were helped by a foul on Nickel on the inbound play, where the junior made both of the shots and brought the game within two. Once again, Gates took a timeout on Missouri’s behalf, with 23 seconds to be played. The Tigers inbounded the ball on the next play, but Vanderbilt quickly fouled to send Robinson to the line. Robinson made both of his shots, which meant Vanderbilt inbounded the ball with 21 seconds to play. Hoggard exploded up the court, dishing it to Edwards, who made a shifty move and nailed a shot from beyond the arc to make the score 79-78 with 12 seconds remaining.
Vanderbilt returned from a full timeout taken by Byington running a full-court press, but Huffman ended up fouling Grill to send him to the line. Grill made both shots, extending the Missouri lead to two with nine seconds left. Just moments later, Hoggard dished the ball to Nickel, knowing the ‘Dores needed a three and Nickel found nothing but net. That tied the game at 81-all at the conclusion of regulation to send the game to overtime.
Overtime
To open overtime play, Byington ran his starting squad of Manon, McGlockton, Nickel, Edwards and Hoggard. Manon got the first basket, cutting back to Hoggard — who was stuck with three defenders on him in the paint — and finishing on a shifty layup. After a foul awarded to Hoggard resulted in two free-throw attempts by Mitchell, one of which he made, Vanderbilt forged ahead. Hoggard started the run with a layup, while Manon followed suit, making both free throws when he was fouled and extending Vanderbilt’s lead to five.
A stop with just over two minutes left had Hoggard settling his team on his way down the court. Hoggard could not be stopped, though, as the graduate student netted a three-point play on a jumper and extra point. Edwards would make a 3-pointer on the next offensive possession, but Missouri matched with a 3-pointer of its own from Robinson to keep the Vanderbilt lead contained at four. The overtime period would go to a media timeout with 55 seconds remaining and the ‘Dores holding a 93-89 lead.
Returning from the timeout, Nickel was fouled, making just one of the shots but still adding to Vanderbilt’s lead. Two made free throws from Grill on the other end, however, brought the game within three points with 24 seconds left. The Commodores managed to get the ball out of the full court press on the inbound and down the court, forcing Missouri to foul Hoggard. The Coatesville, Pennsylvania, native made both of his shots to extend the lead. A prompt basket by the Tigers on the other end once again chipped away at the Commodores’ lead, but a successful inbound attempt and stellar passing to break the press would eventually bring McGlockton to the line. After McGlockton made his first free throw, there was a timeout. McGlockton missed his second shot after the timeout, and a last-chance effort by Grill fell short, giving the Commodores a 97-93 win over a top-15 opponent.
During the overtime period, the Commodores shot a stellar 80% from the field and 50% from three.
Next up for Vanderbilt is a home contest against Arkansas on March 4 at 9 p.m. CST.
