No. 10 Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21 to compete against No. 7 Saint Mary’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores ultimately lost 59-56 despite a promising first half. This was the team’s first appearance in the tournament since 2017.
Vanderbilt controlled the first half thanks to poor shooting by the Gaels, who went just 9-26 from the floor in the first half. Jason Edwards led the charge on offense, going for 13 points on 6-10 shooting.
St. Mary’s size advantage was apparent in the second half, as the Gaels clawed their way back into a competitive game after going down 12 thanks to strong offensive rebounding and paint defense. Improved 3-point shooting by the Gaels propelled them to victory.
“This is a special group. To be able to do what they did and be able to go against [the doubts] and get to this place,” head coach Mark Byington said. “I’m always going to cherish them.”
First half
Saint Mary’s swatted the opening tip out of bounds to give Vanderbilt possession, but Edwards missed a pull-up 3-pointer. However, AJ Hoggard soon opened the scoring with a layup. A steal by Hoggard set up a fastbreak lay by Edwards, but the Gaels answered with a triple on their next possession to make it 4-3 Vanderbilt. St. Mary’s took its first lead of the game with a contested layup, but Edwards drained a signature moving 3-pointer to pull ahead again. Saint Mary’s tied it up 7-7 heading into the game’s first media timeout.
Edwards missed a heat check out of the timeout which gave Saint. Mary’s the chance to score a layup, which Jaylen Carey quickly offset with a thunderous dunk. Carey posted another 2 points with grown-man basketball in the paint, but got confident and failed a 3-point attempt, which Saint Mary’s followed with a 2-point bucket to make it 11-all before the game’s second media timeout.
Devin McGlockton scored his first points of the game with a layup fresh out of the timeout and Grant Huffman tacked on a triple to extend Vanderbilt’s lead to 16-11. A promising fast break for Vanderbilt devolved into chaos and Saint. Mary’s cut Vanderbilt’s lead down by 2 as a result. The Commodores grew their lead by 4 after a third media timeout thanks to a baseline layup by Manon and a fastbreak bucket by Edwards, but the Gaels quickly responded with a 3-pointer. Another 4 points by Edwards pushed St. Mary’s to take their first time out.
Nickel ended a brief scoring drought by both teams with a tough 3-pointer as the shot clock dwindled, and Saint Mary’s only answered with 2, to make it 27-18 for Vanderbilt. Edwards scored his 13th point of the game after a timeout, but Vanderbilt called a timeout of its own after Saint Mary’s scored to make it 29-20. The Gaels drained two free throws between the timeout and halftime to make it 29-22 Vanderbilt headed into the break.
Jaylen Carey slams down a dunk against St. Mary's, as photographed on March 21, 2025. (Hustler Multimedia/Miguel Beristain)
Second half
Saint Mary’s opened the second half with 2 points in its first possession, but the Commodores did the same. An attempt at the rim by McGlockton was blocked, and Manon fouled on a chase-down block attempt at the other end, but Saint Mary’s whiffed both free throws. Nickel drained his second triple of the day to make Vanderbilt’s lead 10, but a 3-point play by a Gael brought it back down to 7. After converting two free throws, Manon came up with a big block at the other end to set up a 3-pointer by Tyler Tanner which made it 39-27 Vanderbilt. Strong defense by Manon and Tanner backed Saint Mary’s into a corner and it responded by calling its first timeout of the second half.
Poor offensive rebounding and ball protection by Vanderbilt let the Gaels go on a 6-0 run to make it 39-33. Huffman broke up the run with a free throw, but Saint Mary’s drained a triple on the other end to swing the momentum. Edwards answered with a layup and grabbed a rebound on the other end to prevent a second chance for the surging Gaels.
The Commodores missed back-to-back shots and St. Mary’s scored twice in the meantime to bring the game within 2 points at 42-40. Hoggard stretched the lead with a free throw, but the Gaels drained a triple to bring the game level at 43-43. Manon got a 2-point jumper to fall, but Augustas Marciulionis scored one from downtown to pull ahead for the first time in the second half at a score of 46-45. Two made free throws gave St. Mary’s a 3-point lead and the two teams exchanged layups to bring the score to 50-47 in favor of St. Mary’s. Edwards made a big-time 3-pointer to make it 50-all, but Marciulionis drained another of his own and Vanderbilt called a timeout to regroup.
The teams traded triples to make it 56-53, but a controversial foul call sent St. Mary’s to the line for two, both of which it converted. A 3-pointer by Nickel breathed life into the Commodores, but a free throw on the other end made it 59-56.
Edwards and McGlockton both had chances to tie the game up with 3-pointers on their final possession, but neither fell, and Vanderbilt ultimately lost 59-56.
