NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Texas A&M guard Savion Flagg hit a 3 with 27 seconds left, the game’s final points in a 69-52 contest with Vanderbilt in Wednesday night’s Southeastern Conference Tournament first round at the Bridgestone Arena.

Flagg froze in place for several seconds afterwards, a not-so-subtle taunt.

Vanderbilt players jogged past Flagg without incident, swallowing insult from a team mediocre enough to have gotten its coach fired earlier in the week.

It was that kind of season.

One that ended with 23 losses, and 20 in a row. Both are school records at a place that began playing in 1900.

Guard Saben Lee led VU with 19. Forward Yanni Wetzell added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

To Vanderbilt’s credit, it didn’t quit.

After trailing by 21 earlier in the second half, Vanderbilt cut the lead to 53-43 with 6:23 left on Aaron Nesmith’s long 3.

The Commodores found a spring in their step. Vanderbilt fans began to make some noise.

It didn’t last long.

Vandy nearly got a defensive stop on the next possession. Instead, A&M’s Wendell Mitchell drove and hit a lay-up just before the shot clock expired and Jay Jay Chandler added a lay-up on the next trip. The ‘Dores cut the lead to 11 later, but never got closer.

A&M led 34-19 at half. Flagg had 17 at the break, and 29 for the game.

“At halftime, we had a heart-to-heart talk,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said. “How did we want to play this second half out? How do we want things to go?

“Credit our guys. We talked about fight. We talked about heart. We talked about competing. I think we found a group out there the last 12 minutes that really played with a lot of fight, a lot of competitiveness.”

Whether the Aggies felt threatened was another matter. A&M played a pair of walk-on guards, Mark French and Chris Collins, for 15 and 31 minutes, respectively.

A&M fired coach Billy Kennedy earlier in the week. The question now becomes whether Vanderbilt will do the same. A source indicated last week that a coaching change is “on the table,” but the decision would be up to new athletic director Malcolm Turner, who arrived at VU barely a month ago.

It was a question that Drew dodged afterwards.

“My biggest concern is about players," he said. "It’s been an emotional ride for them. An adversity that none of us have faced before. My first priority is for them. I’m a basketball coach, but also a mentor, I’m also a leader. I also tell their parents I care for their hearts and their futures.

“That’s my big concern. That’s my job. That’s what I do. There’s definitely some things I recognized a couple months ago, some changes that needed to happen, and we’ve already been working on those changes, and will continue to work on those changes.”

Drew indicated he expects to meet with Turner sometime after the season, but did not give a date.

Notes

VU started Max Evans, Lee, Nesmith, Clevon Brown and Wetzell.

It’s the first time all year that Simi Shittu didn’t start. HIs 17 minutes tied a season low set in the Auburn game, a contest in which he fouled out. Shittu did not commit a foul on Wednesday.

Matt Ryan hit a 3 at the 17:45 mark of the second half, extending VU’s string of games with a made 3-pointer to 1,064.