Commodores Dominate Wildcats in Statement Victory
Vanderbilt Dominates Kentucky
The Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s Basketball team came into tonight’s game with Kentucky and needed a fast start without Duke Miles, who was out due to a knee issue. The Dores returned off of their lopsided victory at Mississippi State on Saturday, and Kentucky had been flying on a five game winning streak coming into tonight. It was all Dores tonight in an 80-55 win at Memorial Gymnasium.
A quick start is exactly what the Dores got by starting the game with a 7-0 run. The Wildcats could not find the bottom of the net, starting 0-for-9 from the floor before a Denzel Aberdeen dunk.
Tyler Tanner was able to penetrate the Wildcats in the paint early on and helped the Commodores to a 15-4 lead seven minutes into the game with eight early points. Kentucky was struck by the turnover bug, and the Dores also outworked them on the boards. Vanderbilt looked like the more physical and savvy team coming into this game, with Kentucky looking a bit out of sorts.
Vanderbilt was able to expand to a 29-12 lead with just under eight minutes to go in the first half, and they moved without the ball and found their spots. Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel combined for four threes in the first 12 minutes of the game, and Kentucky looked overmatched.
McGlockton continued to be a big factor, finding his stroke from beyond the arc and owning the boards. Chandler Bing came in averaging two points in just under eight minutes per game. Tonight he served up great quality minutes and production with Duke Miles out, scoring 11 points in 26 minutes of play.
Vanderbilt was able to walk into the locker room at halftime with a 43-23 lead, with Tyler Tanner leading with 12 points. The Dores just outplayed Kentucky in the first 20 minutes with a 27-16 rebounding advantage and tight defense. The Wildcats were not able to find anything much inside, and they settled for a ton of threes that didn’t connect. Kentucky shot 9-32 from the field (2-11 3PT) in the first half.
Vanderbilt took it personally tonight and wanted to show that they could be a physical team that dictated the flow of the game, and they came right out after half and continued on. Tyler Nickel was found under the basket by AK Okereke for an easy layup. Kentucky seemed unaware on defense at times, and it blatantly showed on plays like that.
Otega Oweh for Kentucky had been quiet in the first half and quickly came out after halftime with six quick points after scoring six the whole first half. He would finish with 20 points on 7-for-19 shooting, in 31 minutes. The Commodores came out a little cold, starting 1-for-6, until Tyler Tanner knocked down a three for his 18th point of the game with 15:02 left to give the Commodores a 51-31 lead, and they kept the momentum in hand going forward.
Kentucky had been a second half team with some great comebacks, but tonight was never in question for the Commodores. Devin McGlockton was major, as he finished with a double-double of 11 points with 12 rebounds. His work on the boards and first half three point contributions gave Vanderbilt exactly what they needed tonight.
Tyler Nickel put in 19 points on the night, and put up an efficient night shooting 50 percent from the field. Tyler Tanner would finish the night with 19 points with five assists and four rebounds. Tanner was the quick starter tonight, and the team flowed right behind him.
Tonight’s game was about Vanderbilt setting the tone and never giving Kentucky a chance in this game. The Dores went wire to wire in this one and did so with grit, and checked all the boxes. They out-rebounded Kentucky 43-37, had 22 bench points to Kentucky’s 10, took a slight advantage in the paint of 28-24, and turned the ball over nine times to Kentucky’s 15.
I believe Vanderbilt has been fed up with people questioning their physicality over the last couple of weeks, and now they have played back to back games of dominant ball.
Update on Duke Miles
Vanderbilt Head Coach Mark Byington confirmed after the game that Duke Miles will undergo a cleanup surgery on his knee Wednesday, January 28, 2026. He doesn’t expect him to be out long.
