Commodores Win Twice in Memorial: Vanderbilt vs Virginia Exhibition Recap

In a sloppy but promising night for Vanderbilt basketball, the ‘Dores won both exhibition mini-games by scores of 44-41 and 51-46 (for a total of 95-87) against a newly formed but talented Virginia squad.

Vanderbilt was led by a 3 headed monster of Tyler Tanner, Duke Miles, and Tyler Harris. Each scored 20 points over both games and were clearly the 3 best players for Vanderbilt tonight. Tanner took over game 1 and was easily the best player on the court during that time, while Harris and Miles both had stretches of elite play during game 2.

Virginia was led by highly touted transfer Malik Thomas and European transfer Thijs De Ridder who scored 18 and 14. Ogonna Onyenso and Johann Grunloh also scored 14.

Game Recaps

Vanderbilt opened the game with a starting lineup of Tyler Tanner, Duke Miles, Tyler Nickel, Tyler Harris, and Devin McGlockton. Vanderbilt got out to an early lead behind Tanner and Harris midrange jumpers and Nickel 3. The strong offense continued as Duke Miles scored a tough layup and McGlockton got a putback layup. The offense cooled down and Virginia got back in the game as Washington and Okereke came in for Nickel and McGlockton. Virginia also found their footing in the paint with Johann Grunloh and Thijs De Ridder getting some easy baskets at the rim. UVA and Vandy traded 3s from Tyler Harris and Malik Thomas to end the 1st quarter with Vanderbilt up 19-18.

The second quarter was all about Tyler Tanner. He scored 6 straight and made play after play on defense (he had 2 blocks and a steal in a 2 to 3 minute span) as he carried a Vanderbilt team that was struggling to score on Virginia. Tanner was far more assertive on offense while still bringing his high energy defense and electric transition play to the team. After the Tyler Tanner show had concluded, Mark Byington brought in a very young lineup that included all 3 freshmen on the team (Jayden Leverett, Chandler Bing, and Jaylon Dean-Vines) alongside Harris and Frankie Collins. The offense struggled mightily with this group in and Collins accrued 3 fouls in just 2 minutes of time on the floor, allowing UVA to take a 39-36 lead with just a few minutes remaining in game 1. Byington put the starters back in and they were able to do enough to get ahead before the clock expired, though. Duke Miles made his presence felt with an and-1 that tied it up at 39 and a 3 that gave Vanderbilt a 42-39 lead. The game then fittingly ended with a Tyler Tanner buzzer-beating layup for a final score of 44-41.

The 1st half of game 2 (or 3rd quarter… confusing, I know) opened in a similar fashion as game 1, with Tyler Tanner getting the scoring started with a tough layup. Chandler Bing and Duke Miles both hit 3s and Vandy once again got out to an early lead, this time at 10-4. Then the sloppiness hit. First, Vandy totally lost control of the boards. UVA got several 2nd chance buckets in quick succession and it was 15-13 Vandy in an instant. Then came the fouling. The next 5-7 minutes of gametime were a slog as neither team could stop fouling the other. It was so bad that both teams were in the double bonus just 6 minutes into the 2nd game. Even more painful was the fact that both teams were hovering around 40% from the free throw line in the quarter, too. Both teams had the opportunity to take a commanding lead over the other if they could just convert from the line, but neither team did. Finally, Tyler Harris snapped Vandy out of their funk as he scored 7 straight for Vandy. He hit a contested 3, got to the line on a drive and nailed both free throws, and then got a steal which he took all the way for a transition dunk, bringing some life back to the team and Memorial. Immediately after that dunk, Duke Miles jumped an errant Virginia pass and splashed a pull up 3 in transition, giving Vandy back their lead. The ‘Dores ended the 3rd quarter/first half of game 2 up 25-24.

The 4th quarter/2nd half of game 2 was less sloppy for the ‘Dores but they were not able to put Virginia away. Jalen Washington made his first real impact as he scored his first (unofficial) points for Vandy with a layup, got a block, then another layup to open the half. Tyler Tanner then hit a fading 3 to put Vandy up 32-29 before Virginia answered with a 3 of their own. Tyler Nickel then tried to take things into his own hands. He scored on a couple impressive turnaround jumpers in the paint but struggled from the free throw line, going 1-5. Those missed free throws kept the gap between Vandy and UVA small as Grunloh got in the paint and hit free throws. As the clock began to wind down with a slim 40-37 Vanderbilt lead Tyler Tanner hit 2 free throws and Tyler Harris nailed another midrange shot to give the ‘Dores a little bit of breathing room. The teams then traded free throws as Virginia continued to have success in the paint. Washington threw down a lob on a great feed from Collins to make it 48-42. Virginia scored 4 quickly to make it a 1 score game, but Vanderbilt hit enough free throws late and blocked a layup attempt to secure a 51-46 win for the ‘Dores.

Wrap-Up

It was a night where you could tell that neither team had much continuity, but Vanderbilt was able to do enough to secure a solid win. The performances of Miles, Tanner, and Harris all were extremely encouraging, although there are still plenty of question marks that have yet to be answered.

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