Rexrode: Vanderbilt tougher than Tennessee, and that's a mouthful
KNOXVILLE — The unidentified man with the long, gray hair and scruffy beard stood and delivered, loudly enough to turn heads from sections away in Thompson-Boling Arena.
He was telling us, over and over again and somewhat rhythmically, what he thinks of basketball official Pat Adams. It was not nice. But then, Adams had just seen to the dismissal of a different Tennessee fan for saying something else (presumably not nice).
By the end, the ones who weren’t filing out with Vanderbilt salting away a gigantic 67-56 victory were chanting about Adams and his crew in unison. Some were throwing stuff, enough to earn the warning of a technical foul on the home team if any more items rained from the stands.
UT and its fans had legitimate gripes on some calls, and they may remember Wednesday night for that. The Vols may look back at this loss as the one that kept them out of the NCAA Tournament.
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But that’s not what this was. This was a statement, made by a Vanderbilt team (15-13, 8-7 SEC) that has grown beyond what anyone could have guessed since the Vols thumped the Commodores 87-75 on Jan. 14 at Memorial Gym.
NCAA Tournament hopes? This team isn’t just making a push for an invite, it’s playing like it could advance in the thing.
Defense? The Vols treated Vandy’s 2-3 zone like a Pop-A-Shot at Chuck E. Cheese in Nashville, but that zone is long gone, replaced by a man defense that helps just enough on drivers, doubles with purpose in the post and relies on its rim protector — 7-foot-1 senior Luke Kornet, who had 13 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocks and complete ownership of the end of the game.
“His defense the last five minutes was as good a five-minute defensive stretch as I’ve seen from anybody in the country,” Vanderbilt first-year coach Bryce Drew said of Kornet.
Toughness? Here’s where the imagination has to stretch a bit. If you watched this team in the first couple months of the season, you probably at some point uttered a word that is dirtier in the sports world than any of the words Vols fans were hurling at the refs Wednesday.
Soft. This team looked soft. And it’s exceedingly rare for a team, built on skill and lacking physical punch, to play that way consistently for two months and then turn into a bunch of bulldogs in the third month.
But I could swear that’s what we’re seeing here. That’s what we saw Wednesday. Vanderbilt punched first, a layup off a jump-ball play, an 18-4 lead, the Vols seemingly surprised by the ferocity.
“Like they knew exactly what they wanted to get done,” said UT coach Rick Barnes, whose young team has lost four of six to fall to 15-13 (7-8) and out of the at-large discussion for now.
“I’m baffled and frustrated by it,” Barnes said of the start.
These teams have the same record, but Vanderbilt’s résumé is much stronger than Tennessee’s at this point. Its resolve, too.
The Vols made their second-half run, getting 16 of their 17 offensive rebounds in the final 20 minutes, and getting the lead down to a single point twice.
Vandy had an answer every time it needed one. Jeff Roberson throwing down a vicious dunk. Kornet with a post-up jumper. Joe Toye with a three and then a drive, slick pump fake and layup — his only two baskets of the night, both in the final five minutes.
Matthew Fisher-Davis with big shots and free throws. Nolan Cressler with a three, then another, both off Riley LaChance drives and pitch-back passes.
LaChance was terrific in the face of 33 minutes of pressure, with seven assists and two of Vanderbilt’s paltry five turnovers. Defense and rebounding are signs of toughness, yes, but so is the ability to take care of the ball under duress.
And yes, LaChance may have received a friendly whistle when Kwe Parker was called for bumping him with 1:28 left and Vandy up 56-52. Angry howls rained. LaChance made both foul shots. The threat was over.
But as Barnes said later: “I can tell you, the breakdowns we had, they had nothing to do with the officiating.”
Mostly, they had to do with a team that has learned how to play cohesive, smart, gritty basketball on both ends of the floor. The word of this night was Vanderbilt.
Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.