The Vanderbilt Commodores pulled off a college basketball upset their fans will never forget on Wednesday night in Nashville.
Vanderbilt‘s Tyrin Lawrence nailed a buzzer-beating three to give the Commodores a 66-65 win over — SEC and in-state rival — No. 6 Tennessee.
Trailing 65-63 with 4.8 seconds remaining, Vanderbilt executed an inbounds play beautifully with a drive-and-kick that led to a wide open three in the corner for Lawrence. He drained the shot and pandemonium followed at Memorial Gymnasium with students rushing the floor in a celebration with the Vanderbilt players.
It’s Vanderbilt’s first win over Tennessee since 2017, and it’s a particularly impressive win over a fantastic Vols squad this season. Tennessee — who ranks No. 3 in the country on Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings even after the loss — entered the game as a 10.5-point favorite.
It’s a signature win for Jerry Stackhouse, who’s been trying to rebuild the Vanderbilt program since taking over as head coach ahead of the 2019 season.
The Commodores improve to 12-12 on the season and 5-6 in SEC: they last went .500 or better in conference play in the 2016-17 season, which also happens to be the last time they made the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps Wednesday’s upset victory is the beginning of a magical run for Vanderbilt into March.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.