Nashville, TENN--If a statement game is possible in November, it feels like Vanderbilt just had one.

As Mark Byington's Vanderbilt team faced its first power-conference test on Wednesday, it passed with flying colors.

Vanderbilt was firing on almost all cylinders on Wednesday night as it took down Cal.

Byington's team came out and kept throwing punches at Cal with run after run after run, it defended and bigger than all; it was just flat out better than its ACC opponent.

It wasn't all that close, either.

Vanderbilt led by double digits for 27:36 and let it get within single digits for just 45 seconds after the 8:21 mark of the first half. Even when it was within single digits it felt as if the bigger battle on Saturday for Cal was keeping it within 10 rather than posing a threat of a win.

"I thought we showed improvement," Byington said. "I don't think anybody knows the answer on how good this team is gonna be, they don't know right now but we gotta work and we gotta do things together."

In that effort, Vanderbilt looked like a threat to do this often.

The way in which the Commodores won was repeatable. Their opponents won't turn it over 20 times every game resulting in 32 Vanderbilt points, but Vanderbilt also won't shoot 28% from 3-point range often once it gets rolling.

Vanderbilt didn't need to make shots from the perimeter much on Wednesday, though. The Commodores' 19 assists and 66.6% shooting from inside the arc was more than good enough. Perhaps bigger than all, its defense stole the show.

"Our defense intensity changed the game around," Byington said. "We won the game with our defense intensity."

So was local freshman Tyler Tanner, who made as big of a statement as anyone.

Tanner went for a career-high 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting on Wednesday night. Bigger than that; he looked the part.

Some of those points came in transition, but they weren't a fluke.

"I definitely think I did," Tanner said when asked if he thought he showed what he can do on Wednesday. "I just have always told myself to do whatever I can to stay on the floor. Energy is just a niche that I've tried to find off the bench."

Tanner is the real deal. More so than any Vanderbilt freshman has been in the past few years.

"He's one of the best players not only in the state, but in the country," Cal interim head coach Adam Mazarei said. "He's gonna be really, really good for years."

Vanderbilt also showed signs of having that apply to its entire roster, as well.

The Commodores won't have an easy path to the NCAA Tournament, but showed plenty of the staples of a good team on Wednesday.

They were balanced, they weathered through Cal's runs, they held their own on the glass and they looked like they belonged.

A win like Wednesday night was needed for Vanderbilt, which now has some proof of concept just three games.