After watching his No. 22 Vanderbilt team win its first two games by an average margin of nearly 35 points, head coach Mark Byington finds that a good part of his focus is on his club’s defense.
The Commodores will play the third of six consecutive home games to open their new campaign when they face cross-state foe Memphis on Tuesday night in Nashville.
The Southeastern Conference team has clamped down so far: It allowed 47 points to Bellarmine before giving up four more to Wake Forest in a 74-51 drubbing of the Atlantic Coast Conference program.
“I thought our defense the first two games has been really good, and against different styles,” Byington said. “Bellarmine holds the ball and we were getting shot-clock violations. (Wake’s) guys were trying to go. So it’s different styles, and you’ve got to win different ways.”
Vanderbilt (2-0) held Bellarmine to 37% shooting from the field, while the Demon Deacons managed just 35%. The two opponents combined were 11-for-47 (23.4%) from beyond the arc.
The hope is the defensive mindset pays dividends on the road in the SEC when baskets are hard to come by.
“You get to the end of the season on the road, and you’ve got to win in some tough environments and we might not have offense,” the third-year Vanderbilt coach added. “But our rebounding and our defense right now are the things we’re doing well.”
Tyler Tanner leads in four categories: 18.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.5 steals.
The Tigers (2-0) have apparently found the floor leader they can turn to in key moments in newcomer Jayden Reid.
In 35 minutes, Reid scored a career-high 32 points, none more important than the two free throws he drained with just under six seconds remaining against VCU on Saturday night.
He and his group, which played from behind much of the contest, held on and kept their campaign perfect with an 89-88 win over the Rams.
Playing at his third school after two seasons at South Florida and 2025-26 at Northwestern, Reid put his faith to the test in the portal.
The Westbury, N.Y., product said he relied on his faith to determine his final stop, which led him to west Tennessee and head coach Penny Hardaway.
“My story is unique for me,” Reid said. “I’m really just thankful to God. I pray every day for moments like this, to be in positions like this. … Once I got in the portal, I prayed a lot. I ended up at Memphis, and we’re starting off 2-0. Big-time win, a lot of emotions, just super thankful and blessed.”
A win over No. 18 Iowa State and a VCU squad that received plenty of offseason recognition and was the preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10 have the blue-clad Tigers anxious at the chance to face another ranked team in Vanderbilt.
Hardaway had faith that his new playmaker, Reid, would sink the two freebies with the game on the line.
“I just knew he was making those,” the ninth-year coach said. “He wanted that moment more than anyone.”
Reid is averaging 29 points, and Rihards Vavers is averaging 16. Tylik Weeks and Luke Almodovar are each averaging 12.5 points per game.
–Field Level Media
