Loss to Auburn was a March Madness lesson for Vanderbilt basketball, Mark Byington
Vanderbilt basketball has improved leaps and bounds from Jerry Stackhouse's last season as coach to Mark Byington's first.
But that improvement has still left the Commodores (17-7, 5-6 SEC) with a gap between them and some of the top teams in the country. That was evident in Tuesday's game against No. 2 Auburn (22-2, 10-1).
Vanderbilt played quite well at times. The Commodores even overcame a 15-0 run to start the game from the Tigers and held a lead as late as 14 minutes to go in the second half. But ultimately, Vanderbilt couldn't keep it close in the 80-68 loss at Memorial Gymnasium.
Auburn was overwhelming. The Tigers didn't just have National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome − who didn't even look like the best player on his own team. Instead, Denver Jones and bench player Chaney Johnson each put up 20 points.
"They had some good bigs," Vanderbilt forward Devin McGlockton said. "I feel like me and (Jaylen Carey) ... I thought we were the best bigs out there tonight, we did a good job crashing the glass and finishing around the rim."
McGlockton finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Carey had eight points and 10 rebounds. Vanderbilt won the overall rebounding battle, 37-29.
But the Commodores also allowed Auburn to shoot 52% from the field. Vanderbilt shot 42% and was just 3-for-17 from 3-point range. While the Commodores had a respectable 12 turnovers, they forced just eight turnovers from the Tigers.
"They don't have any weaknesses," Byington said. "They can play different styles of basketball. They really execute. Their offense is good, and I thought their defense was really impressive. Today, we struggled early getting rid of them."
Vanderbilt put itself behind from the start with Auburn's 15-0 run to start the game. After that point, the Commodores outscored the Tigers. But as has happened in many games this season, Vanderbilt played poor defense in the second half, allowing 46 points on 61% shooting.
Currently on the March Madness bubble, the Commodores won't be knocked too heavily for losing to a team considered by many to be the best in the country. But if Vanderbilt does earn a seed in the 9-11 range as it is projected, it will likely need to beat a team the caliber of Auburn − or Florida or Alabama, two other top-five teams that boatraced the Commodores − to advance out of the first weekend.
"Maybe it was fatigue," Byington said. "They're deep. They've got big bodies, but can't quite put the finger on that. I'm not sure why the second half got away from us. We just weren't ourselves the first four or five minutes. We weren't ourselves like the last four or five minutes, and in between, we weren't that bad."
Byington admitted he didn't really have a matchup defensively for some of Auburn's players. The Tigers have unusual size among their guards, while Vanderbilt's backcourt is relatively undersized.
While none of them are quite as good as Auburn, the Commodores will face a gauntlet to finish out their season with road games at Tennessee and Kentucky, plus Georgia and Texas A&M, and home games against Ole Miss, Missouri and Arkansas. According to Bart Torvik, the Ole Miss game projects as a pick 'em and Vanderbilt would be favored against Arkansas. The Commodores are projected underdogs in every other game.
BRACKETOLOGY: Where Vanderbilt basketball ranks in latest March Madness
Ultimately, Vanderbilt will need to find ways to beat these elite teams. The Commodores already have wins over Tennessee and Kentucky at home, but the road tilts will provide an even bigger challenge.
"We just got to try to find ways to get better, ways to improve," Byington said. "So when we're in these situations again, we can get one of these."
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball outmatched but there was a March Madness lesson
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