When
Saturday, February 8
12:00pm CST
Where
Memorial Gymnasium
i’m sick and tired of asking people to come! If you support this team and want them to play in the NCAA tournament, be at Memorial on Saturday.
TV/Streaming
SECN/ESPN App
Radio
102.5 FM Locally
SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast
Rankings
AP: Both teams enter unranked.
Kenpom: Vanderbilt 51st, Texas 31st
NET: Vanderbilt 46, Texas 29
Bracketmatrix: Both teams sitting at a 10-seed
New addition to the previews with tournament time getting closer
Bracketmatrix takes 86 different predictions to make a composite.
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PENDING RELEASE
How We Got Here
Texas arrives at Memorial Gym looking for their 5th conference win after dropping a home game to Arkansas Wednesday night, 78-70. With only 3 or 4 winnable games left on the schedule for the Longhorns, this is a crucial game for their tournament hopes. They are one of the only teams without a premier out-of-conference win this season and are leaning on their home victories against Missouri and Texas A&M in the same way Vandy fans are hanging on to home wins against Tennessee and Kentucky. Tre Johnson is by far the Longhorn's best scorer, averaging 19 points a game on 48% shooting, including 37% from three. Texas comes at you with a balanced scoring attack, ranking 53rd in FG% and 60th in 3pt%.
After a two-game losing skid, the Commodores return to Memorial in hopes of bouncing back against a team that should be an underdog to Vandy. Last Saturday Mark Byington and his crew of Point Guards went down to Norman, Oklahoma where, for the first half, thoroughly dominated the game and looked to be cruising to a crucial road victory. The second half was a different story. After AJ Hoggard put in the first points of the half, Oklahoma exploded on a 23-0 run to take the lead and control of the game, outscoring the Commodores 61-27 in the 2nd half.
Tuesday night Vandy traveled to Gainesville, Florida to square off against a top 10 Florida team. For the first half, Vandy played what I thought was one of our more complete halves of basketball and led going into the break. The second half was not as gut-wrenching as the Oklahoma game was, but Florida seemed to hit everything and ended up winning the game by 11. Saturday is as much of a must-win as you can have if the ‘Dores want to be dancing in March. It simply MUST be MAGIC in MEMORIAL for the third straight Saturday home game!
What to Expect
A balanced scoring attack that relies on taking and making good shots over forcing more attempts, like we are seeing more and more in the college game. Vandy fans should expect a shooting performance like Texas had Wednesday night against Arkansas (34% from the field, including 27% from three). For the Longhorns to end this game victorious, they will have to improve on those shooting numbers and continue to get open shots like they were getting Wednesday. Ranking 53rd in the country in points allowed, they will try and slow this game down and force Vanderbilt into a half-court offense, a part of the game where we have struggled lately. Texas’ key player for this game will be Jordan Pope. A big game from him will give ‘Horns a chance to pull off the road victory their resume needs.
For Memorial Magic to continue Saturday afternoon, the Commodores will have to get back to the basketball they were playing at home when they knocked off consecutive top-10 teams in Tennessee and Kentucky. Jason Edwards and Jaylen Carey/Devin McGlockton cannot be the only scoring options if this team wants to play to its full NCAA Tournament game-winning potential. Luckily for Commodore fans, outside of a pretty much Jason Edward-less Mississippi State game, this team has been very good at home. Look for a re-emergence of Tyler Nickel after two sub-par performances have left a sour taste in his mouth. I believe for this offense to truly take the next step, all things need to run through Jason. He is the best scoring option on a game-to-game basis, and he needs to be taking more shots. When defenses have to key on him, this opens up the court for other scorers to shine. Look for Vandy to really push the tempo on Saturday and try to run Texas out of the gym.
Chef Miller's Prediction
81-70 Vandy!
