Vanderbilt hopes a return home can help snap a recent swoon when it battles Texas on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference game in Nashville, Tenn.
It is the first time the teams will square off on the hardwood since a 2016 win for Texas in Austin that tied the all-time series at 4-4. The Longhorns have not played Vanderbilt in Nashville since the 1988-89 season.
The Commodores (16-6, 4-5 SEC) head home after back-to-back road losses to Oklahoma on Feb. 1 and to No. 6 Florida 86-75 on Tuesday. Vanderbilt has lost three of its past four games in a downturn that cost the team a spot in the Top 25.
Jason Edwards led the Commodores with 20 points against Florida, with Jaylen Carey adding 15, Devin McGlockton scoring 14 and MJ Collins Jr. finishing with 11. Vanderbilt led 50-49 with 12:08 to play but was outscored 16-4 over the ensuing four-plus minutes.
“We’ve got to figure out a better way to get stops in the second half,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “We’re fighting, we’re battling and I’ve got to do better and come up with a scheme or something. The guys’ effort is good. We’re undersized and we know it. We’ve got to come up with something.”
Edwards’ 17.6 points per game leads the Commodores, while McGlockton averages 11.5 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds.
The Longhorns (15-8, 4-6) arrive after a 78-70 loss at home to Arkansas on Wednesday. Texas scored just 24 points in the first half, trailed by 11 at the break and never found its stride despite Tre Johnson’s 25 points and a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double from Arthur Kaluma.
The Longhorns, who shot just 34.4 percent from the floor, also got 10 points from Kadin Shedrick. Texas has lost two of its past three games and is 4-6 since the start of 2025.
“I still give our guys a lot of credit for what (we) were able to do with (our) defense tonight, but shots are not falling,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “We have to still be able to sit down and go and try to play physical as well.
“We’ve got to regroup and have a short turnaround against a really good Vanderbilt team on their home court.”
Johnson, the Longhorns’ star freshman, leads the SEC in scoring with 19.2 points per game. Kaluma leads Texas in rebounding (8.2) and has six double-doubles.
–Field Level Media
