No. 18 Vanderbilt presents tall obstacle for Ole Miss
No. 18 Vanderbilt unexpectedly will play a second straight home game on Saturday when it hosts Ole Miss in Nashville, Tenn.
The Southeastern Conference moved this game from Oxford, Miss., and shifted the teams' scheduled March 4 rematch from Nashville to Oxford due to a winter storm that caused power outages in both cities. Ole Miss won't re-open campus until Feb. 8.
Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington lost electricity at his home and slept inside the team's practice facility the night before his team clobbered Kentucky, 80-55, on Tuesday.
"There are times in need. We had an opportunity tonight to make a lot of people feel good," Byington said after Tuesday's game.
Tyler Tanner scored 19 points, dished five assists and added four steals, playing 37 minutes for the Commodores (18-3, 5-3 SEC) on Tuesday.
Tanner averages a team-high 17.5 points and is part of one of the country's best backcourt units with Duke Miles (16.6 points per game) and Frankie Collins (7.8 points and 4.7 assists).
However, Collins hasn't played with a meniscus injury since Dec. 17 and Miles was a late scratch for the Kentucky game with a knee injury that resulted in a Wednesday surgery. Both will miss Saturday's game but are expected back later in the year.
Vanderbilt made a style pivot without them on Tuesday.
The Commodores got destroyed on the backboards in consecutive losses to Texas, Florida and Arkansas between Jan. 14-20, so Tuesday's starting lineup grouped Tanner with 6-foot-7 Tyler Nickel, 6-foot-7 AK Okereke, 6-foot-8 Devin McGlockton and 6-foot-10 Jalen Washington. Off the bench, 6-foot-11 freshmen Jayden Leverett and 6-foot-6 Chandler Bing set career highs in points and minutes.
Vanderbilt outrebounded the Wildcats 43-37 while blocking nine shots. The Commodores like to play fast but slowed their offense to a crawl in Tuesday's second half to keep Tanner fresh.
It was the second straight game in which Vanderbilt held an opponent to a season low in points (Vandernbilt won 88-56 at Mississippi State last Saturday).
Ole Miss (11-9, 3-4) hasn't played since last Saturday's 72-63 loss at Kentucky, its second straight defeat after a three-game winning streak. The Rebels rushed back to Oxford amid the winter storm and coach Chris Beard wasn't available for post-game comments, but he has been frustrated over his team's effort much of the season.
"This wasn't about shots not falling or one bad stretch," Beard said after a 78-66 home loss to Auburn on Jan. 20. "It was about competitiveness -- or the lack of it -- on a night when effort was supposed to be the bare minimum."
The Rebels shot 32% from the floor against Kentucky and 36% against Auburn
Ole Miss features a pair of high-ceiling scorers in seniors AJ Storr (13.9 ppg) and former Commodore and Malik Dia (13.7), who have each scored 27 in a game this season and have career highs of 30 and 32, respectively.
The Rebels could use a big game from Patton Pinkins (44.8% on 3-pointers) or Travis Perry (34.9%), but must hold down Vanderbilt's Nickel, who leads the league in 3-point percentage (45.8%) and makes (71).