Vanderbilt found itself in unfamiliar territory Wednesday, trailing Texas 42-37 at halftime. The Commodores rarely fall behind early. Without their torrid 8-of-15 shooting from three, the Longhorns could have broken the game open sooner.
How Did Texas Expose Wing-Heavy Vanderbilt Into High-Post Physicality?
Noticing Vanderbilt’s hot shooting, Texas coach Sean Miller made a defensive adjustment by bodying up on the Commodores’ shooters. This disrupted their rhythm. The Longhorns’ physicality limited Mark Byington’s team to 1-of-10 from the outside. However, Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington failed to anticipate Miller’s adjustment. This further triggered the collapse that handed his team its first loss of the season.
Before the game, Vanderbilt excelled on plays that rely on proper spacing. Its starting wing combo, Duke Miles (primary ball-handler) and Tyler Tanner (spot-up shooter), were the team’s leading scorers, combining for 34.7 points per game and 3.4 3-pointers per game.
Against Texas, Miles and Tanner easily found their sweet spots early. They buried five of the team’s eight triples in the first half and combined for 24 points. All things would change in the second half. Miller disabled the Commodores’ pace-and-space plays by putting a body on Miles and Tanner, even on the perimeter.
Texas contested every perimeter attempt, making Vanderbilt uncomfortable in the second half, as the Longhorns pulled away. It resulted in Miles making no 3-pointers, though he still scored seven points in the second half. Tanner also had one triple and settled likewise for seven points during that stretch. Tyler Nickel went 2-of-5 from 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the game.
But it was a different story for Devin McGlockton, Vanderbilt’s stretch-four, who missed all four attempts from deep, puzzling every Commodores fan and raising questions about why he’s allowed to shoot despite shooting 23.3% from long distance.
The 43.3% difference in 3-point shooting between the first and second halves proved significant, as making even half the triples in the second half could have kept Vanderbilt in the game. Instead, they succeeded on only 1 of 10 attempts, which further exacerbated the collapse.
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The lack of a solid presence in the paint also proved costly for Byington’s men. Vanderbilt had no capable big man who could catch dump-offs and score. They lacked someone to grab second-chance opportunities, which could divide their rivals’ attention and make the defense honest. The Longhorns exposed the Commodores’ lack of frontcourt threat by ruling the rebounding department 42-24.
Texas limited Vanderbilt to a season-low 64 points on 36.7% shooting from the floor. The Longhorns held the Commodores to 27 points in the second half on 26.7% (8-30) shooting. Worse, Vanderbilt went 5-of-14 on layups.
Sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis posted a game-high 22 points to lead Texas’ offense, and Texas graduate guard Tramon Mark added 21 points. Texas junior Dailyn Swain tallied 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in 34 minutes, while Texas guard Jordan Pope posted 12 points in 36 minutes.
The Longhorns improved to 11-6 (2-2 SEC) while the Commodores absorbed their first loss in 17 games (3-1 SEC).
Texas proved Vanderbilt’s pace-and-space offense can be stopped by being physical against the Commodores’ wings. Up next for Byington’s men are a gauntlet of physical teams in Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky, which may likely use Miller’s blueprint to stop his shooters.
Their shooting is expected to regress further, possibly to 35%-45%, but the Commodores hope their shooting rate will go north of 40% to stand a chance in March Madness if they make it.
