Takeaways From Vanderbilt Basketball's Overtime Win Over Memphis

Vanderbilt basketball took down Memphis 77-70 in a game at FedEx Forum that required overtime and put the undefeated Commodores up for their first loss. Vanderbilt found a way to win, though.

It's Vanderbilt's first win in Memphis since 1996, when the programs played in the Memphis Pyramid. Here's some takeaways from the Commodores' outing.

That’s a win that demonstrates the difference between good and elite teams

A good team would be 10-1 after Wednesday’s outing against Memphis, but not Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt posted a performance well below its standard, yet it moved to 11-0 on Wednesday after taking down Memphis in overtime. 

Memphis got what it wanted out of this game–a grinder that kept it within striking distance down the stretch–yet Vanderbilt beat it at its own game. When the game opened up in overtime, Vanderbilt blitzed Memphis and got off the mat. 

Vanderbilt knows how to win and Memphis doesn’t yet. That was the difference. 

A gritty performance from Duke Miles

Miles shot just 5-for-16 from the field and turned it over five times, yet he was the best player on the floor on Wednesday. 

The Vanderbilt guard went for a team-high 22 points as a result of getting to the line 13 times and making 12 free throws. Miles also recorded five assists and six steals while cleaning up others’ defensive mistakes as if to demonstrate that he had an out pitch on a poor shooting night. 

Miles was a microcosm of why Vanderbilt won.

A sloppy performance

That wasn’t this Vanderbilt team out there was it? Surely it wasn’t the 10-0 team that KenPom has as a top 10 team? Surely it’s not the group that has four quad-one wins? 

Wait…it was? Really? 

Vanderbilt has made a living off of getting its feet in the paint, working possessions until it gets good shots and controlling the tone of games. For long stretches of Wednesday night’s outing in Memphis, it was out of character, settled for contested or rushed shots from beyond the arc and turned it over at a rate it generally doesn’t. 

"Even pickup games have more discipline than this,” said the announcers. 

Mark Byington’s team has built enough of a body of work to indicate that this isn’t the type of performance it will generally put together, but it did on Wednesday night and it’s likely got Byington’s wheels spinning. 

Maybe it didn’t shine through the screen, but Vanderbilt is a more disciplined and better team than Memphis is

In a mess of a first half, two plays appeared to be the difference between Vanderbilt and Memphis. 

The first; Tyler Tanner navigated a ballscreen that Memphis hedged and easily split it before gliding down the lane for an open layup. A few minutes later the second occurred as Memphis big man Aaron Bradshaw was caught sleeping at the top of the key while looking for a dribble handoff option and had his pocket picked by Duke Miles–who eventually finished it on the other end. 

It was the difference between a generally disciplined team made up of experienced and confident guards and a team that still hasn’t found an identity, needs effort to be coached out of them and is 4-5. Perhaps the difference between Vanderbilt and Memphis wasn’t all that easy to see on Wednesday, but it’s there. 

The difference manifested itself in Wednesday’s overtime period as Vanderbilt went on a 7-0 run and demonstrated that it knows how to win. Memphis still hasn’t picked up that still. 

Vanderbilt’s defense covered up some poor offense

Vanderbilt’s defense has been better than it’s gotten credit for throughout the season’s first few weeks, but it’s yet to have to win a game. 

Wednesday it did. 

Vanderbilt shot just 32/3% from the field and 19.4% from 3-point range, but was bailed out by strong point of attack defense, good rotations and diligence on the glass that ended Memphis possessions. Memphis shot just 35.9% from the field, 20.4% from 3-point range and turned it over 20 times. 

Byington appears to have his eight for now

Not much has changed in regard to the rotations that Byington has thrown out over the pst few weeks. The Vanderbilt head coach says his ration isn’t permanent, but leaping someone midseason isn’t all that likely. 

Byington has consistently stuck with his starting lineup of Tyler Tanner, Duke Miles, Tyler Nickel, AK Okereke and Devin McGlockton. His most consistent pieces off the bench are Frankie Collins, Jalen Washington and either Tyler Harris or Chandler Bing. Harris is still in a slump of sorts, but if he can get back to form he’s got a chance to take most of Bing’s minutes down the stretch–although Vanderbilt’s staff loves the freshman guard. 

That leaves Mason Nicholson and Mike James–two transfers that Vanderbilt was high on in the offseason–boxed out, for now. Things can always change once SEC play comes around. 

Vanderbilt beat Memphis at its own game

Memphis’ best metric by far is its offensive rebounding percentage–which it entered Wednesday ranked No. 34 in the country in–yet Vanderbilt outmanned it on the offensive glass all of Wednesday night.

Byington’s team won the battle on the offensive glass 15-11 and scored 10 second-chance points to Memphis’ nine. 

This has to come with the caveat that Memphis is 318th in defensive rebounding.