Tyrin Lawrence with teammates. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt played with a vengeance last night (March 14), defeating Yale 71-62 in the first round of the NIT at Memorial Gym. Vandy will be hosting Michigan for a second round matchup this Saturday, March 19.

The Commodores scored the first 11 points of the game in its 2023 postseason debut, and kept a steady 10-20 point lead for a majority of the game. Yale, a top program from the Ivy League, fought and was able to get back within five points with about seven minutes left, but nothing could get in the way of Vandy winning this game.

“I thought that was a really tough game. I love how our guys came out from the start,” said Head Coach Jerry Stackhouse in a postgame press conference. “We talked about urgency and I think they really came out and set the tone for the game. They’re a really tough team to play, they really execute, they have guys who can make shots all over the floor. We knew they were going to make a run, which they did, but I thought we sustained that run and found a way to make a run ourselves.”

Tyrin Lawrence scored a career-best 25 points and added seven rebounds for the Commodores (21-14), while Ezra Manjon chipped in with 18 points and Quentin Millora-Brown scored seven to go along with a season-high 13 rebounds.

The Commodores defense showed up big time even without SEC Defensive Player of the Year Liam Robbins, who is out for the season. Vandy limited Yale to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and made 20 of 27 attempts from the free-throw line.

“Our guys made big plays after big plays and we made our free throws down the stretch,” continued Stackhouse. “That’s a team that averages 76 points per game and for us to hold them to 62 points is a great feat for us and a testament to our defense, and we have to continue to play with that type of urgency and that type of effort on the defensive end to continue to advance.”

The Memorial madness will continue with Big Ten powerhouse Michigan on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased on Vanderbilt Athletics’ website.

Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

There is nothing quite like March Madness, and Nashville college hoops are at the center of the madness. Between teams like MTSU and Belmont, there is always something to watch, but the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena is the main event in town before teams head to the Dance.

This year, there are a lot of questions surrounding the big teams and some expectations rising for teams that aren’t usually basketball powerhouses. Tennessee and Auburn are obvious contenders for the championship and will be NCAA Tournament teams regardless, but both teams haven’t looked as dominant as they have in recent years.

Tennessee was a clear favorite going into this year but suffered some major losses and are currently without Zakai Zeigler, who is injured. They are still probably one of the favorites to win the SEC Tournament but anything can happen.

Alabama is currently sitting at No. 4 in the country and is predicted to be a Final Four team. They are the heavy favorites to not only win the SEC but the National Championship as well.

That leads us the “middle of the pack” teams, which includes Vanderbilt. The Commodores have had one of their best seasons in nearly a decade, led by SEC Co-Coach of the Year Jerry Stackhouse. They have won 11 conference games against ranked Tennessee, Kentucky and Auburn. Vandy finished the season with a 12-5 home record. Though they won’t be at Memorial Gym, they will be right down the street at Bridgestone which is sure to help.

Vanderbilt has a great team that can definitely fight for a spot in the semifinals, but how fan can they go?

This Commodores team is very talented with players like Jordan Wright, Tyrin Lawrence and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Liam Robbins. The only issue is Robbins suffered an injury in the final game of the season. He averaged 15 ppg, 6.8 rpg and blocked 82 shots. His presence will be greatly missed in the SEC Tournament as the dominant teams fight their hardest to prove they are the best.

But some of Vanderbilt’s most clutch moments of the season came from guys like Wright, Lawrence and Ezra Manjon. This team is still a major threat to the top contenders and needs a deep run in the conference tournament if they want any chance of getting a bid in the NCAA Tournament.

The Commodores have found themselves on NCAA Tournament mock brackets, just missing the tournament. With a few bad wins and an already stacked field, it’s going to be hard for Vandy to make it to the big Dance, but it’s not impossible. Today (March 9), the ‘Dores will face LSU at 8 p.m. A few weeks ago, Vandy lost to the Tigers 84-77 in Baton Rouge but it’s safe to say that Vanderbilt is still the favorite to win.

If they can beat LSU, the Commodores will then face Kentucky, who they just beat last week. From here it will be an uphill battle and Vandy will need to play sharp. This season, Vanderbilt has averaged 72 ppg while allowing opponents to score 71.7 ppg. They played tight games all year long and will definitely need to bring it down to the wire, feeding off of the panic from these top teams, which was a key factor in them taking down Tennessee and Kentucky.

Vandy will look to their veteran players like Wright and 6’10 fifth-year senior Quentin Millora-Brown to step up big time and lead the team. With the absence of Robbins, Millora-Brown is essential to the Commodores success as height and strong defense will make or break the ‘Dores. It will be a difficult few days for Vanderbilt and their loyal fans, but if they can bring a little Memorial magic to Bridgestone Arena, the Commodores could have an exciting Selection Sunday.

MTSU Lady Blue Raiders. Photo: Courtesy of MTSU Athletics

The Lady Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University cap off their fantastic 2022-2023 regular season by clinching the Conference USA Title while also being recognized with a handful of All-Conference honors.

Head Coach Rick Insell was named C-USA’s Co-Coach of the Year and Kseniya Malashka was named C-USA Sixth Player of the Year. Savannah Wheeler, Courtney Whitson and Jalynn Gregory all landed on All C-USA teams. Wheeler and Whitson were named to the All-Conference First Team, and Gregory was named to the Second Team. MTSU was the only school to have three players on the All-Conference teams.

The Lady Blue Raiders made history by making it on the Associated Press Top 25 throughout the season and currently ranked No. 25 heading into the C-USA Tournament.

“I’m proud of each of these young ladies,” Insell says. “We had a great regular season and each of those players had an impact in our success. They deserve the recognition for what they did for our basketball team throughout the regular season. Now, we need to turn our attention to the (Conference USA Championship) this week.”

Malashka joins Gabby Lyon (2016-2017) as the only Lady Raiders to be named Conference USA Sixth Player of the Year. The senior forward is MTSU’s leading scorer with 15.4 points per game, which is good for fifth in the C-USA standings. Malashka also averages 5.6 rebounds per game. She leads C-USA in blocked shots per game with right at two per game, and is second in the league for field goal percentage (48 percent).

Insell was named Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career, sharing the honor with UTEP’s Kevin Baker. Insell has guided the Lady Raiders to a 25-4 record and the C-USA regular-season conference championship. The 25 wins are seventh most in program history. Middle Tennessee posted an 18-2 mark in league play, setting a new league record for wins.

Wheeler is having a banner season in her breakout Lady Raider debut. The All-American candidate is among league leaders for scoring (6th, 15.3), assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.7), assists (9th, 3.1), free throw percentage (2nd, .875), as well as 3-point field goals made and assists. She was a three-time C-USA Player of the Week honoree.

Whitson earned all-conference honors for the second straight season after nearly averaging a double-double. Whitson enters the C-USA Championship averaging 10.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, which leads the league. She also leads C-USA in defensive rebounds per game with 5.7. Gregory has turned in a solid sophomore season to land on the all-conference team. The sharpshooting guard leads C-USA in 3-point field goals per game (2.6) and 3-point field goal percentage (.337). She is also ninth in the league for scoring (13.3) and seventh for steals (1.8).

Top: Jerry Stackhouse. Bottom: Liam Robbins. Photos: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt men’s basketball finished their stellar regular season with Head Coach Jerry Stackhouse claiming the title of Co-SEC Coach of the Year and student-athlete Liam Robbins securing SEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-SEC First Team and All-SEC Defensive Team.

Stackhouse is Vandy’s first men’s basketball SEC Coach of the Year since 2010, and Robbins is the program’s first-ever SEC Defensive Player of the Year winner as well as the first Commodore to earn a spot on the All-SEC Defensive Team since Luke Kornet in 2017. This marks the 20th season of the Defensive Player of the Year honor, which was first issued in 2004.

The awards are voted on by the conference’s head coaches. Stackhouse tied with No. 18 Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams for Coach of the Year. This is the 11th time in program history a Vandy coach has earned the award with Stackhouse joining the likes of Roy Skinner, Wayne Dobbs, C.M. Newton, Eddie Fogler and Kevin Stallings.

The Dores were selected 12th in the SEC Preseason Poll and tied for the fourth-best record in conference play at 11-7. Vandy’s 18 regular season wins are the most for the program since winning 19 in 2015-2016.

Stackhouse led the Commodores to three wins over ranked opponents—No. 6 Tennessee, No. 15 Arkansas and No. 23 Kentucky—and a total of nine wins over Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

Robbins was a dominant force throughout the season, leading the Dores in points (15), rebounds (6.8) and blocks (3.2) per game. The seven-foot graduate student currently ranks third in Division 1 with 3.15 blocks per game and fifth with 82 total blocks. He scored in double figures in 20 of 26 games played this season including a career-high 32 points in a road win at Florida.