NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt didn’t just beat UAB in its exhibition Monday night. It steamrolled the Blazers 97-65 and still walked off the floor talking like a team that knows it has plenty left to clean up.
That tension - between what the Commodores showed and what they said afterward - might be the most revealing part of the night. The performance looked like a group that could be ahead of schedule. The messaging sounded like a team determined not to get carried away.
Bangot Dak had already set that tone before tipoff when he said this Vanderbilt team, which returns only three players from a Round of 32 roster a year ago, is coming together quickly and that its skill sets fit well together. Monday’s result seemed to back that up. Vanderbilt never let UAB settle in, never allowed the game to drift, and never gave any sign that a young roster full of new faces was about to hit the usual exhibition speed bumps.
The Commodores outrebounded UAB 53-35, got strong play from Tyler Tanner, Ace Glass and Ant Brown, and saw Dak deliver the kind of outing that showed why Vanderbilt pushed so hard to land him in the transfer portal. The big man was one of the most coveted players at his position, and he looked the part. Vanderbilt also steadied itself after opening 1-for-10 from 3-point range, finishing the night at 38% from deep.
Tanner was the headliner. In 22 minutes, he scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and piled up six steals.
Williams-Adams added eight points and looked more comfortable on the perimeter. Byington’s team also flashed the defensive edge and frontcourt strength that have made people around the program think big things are possible.
Still, nobody in Vanderbilt’s locker room or postgame crowd seemed interested in turning the exhibition into a celebration.
“We are younger, that comes with advantages and disadvantages,” Williams-Adams told Vandy on SI in the middle of the mob. “We just came out not ourselves and we kind of were all like ‘alright, so what are we doing?’
Like, that's not us. We've been killing each other in practice practice and we're going against each other all day.
So I just think playing against another opponent, we kind of got a little out of character.”
That was the overall vibe around the Commodores after the game. Even after a lopsided win, they kept pointing to the rough spots: the 17 turnovers, the nervous start, the awkward lineups, the offense that was out of rhythm early.
Byington did the same. He said his team was nervous at the start, said they weren’t trusting each other, and called the turnovers a “shame.”
“We’re not close to [deciding the rotations],” Byington said. “But, this gives me hope.”
That hope is easy to understand. Through the first 80 minutes this group has played together, Vanderbilt has looked dangerous. The usual exhibition caveats still apply, but they only go so far when the talent, size and pace keep showing up on the floor.
Even with all of that, the players themselves weren’t interested in talking like a team that had arrived anywhere.
If anyone could have taken the easy route and puffed up the result, it was Tanner, who looked every bit like the centerpiece of the roster. Instead, he kept it measured.
“We were just trying to see a bunch of stuff,” Tanner said. “Obviously, Coach wants to see different lineups and everything, but I thought we were focused, locked in. I think we had good energy, so I think it was good for us.”
That seems to fit this group. The ceiling is obvious.
The confidence is growing. But the Commodores are still talking like a team that thinks there’s a long way to go, even after a night that made them look like one of the SEC’s most intriguing teams.
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