Tyler Tanner's off night didn't stop Vanderbilt basketball in win vs Wake Forest
· Yahoo Sports
When Vanderbilt basketball won last season, it was usually due to Tyler Tanner.
But when the 21st-ranked Commodores took on Wake Forest on Nov. 5 at Memorial Gymnasium, Tanner didn't have his best game. Until a burst of scoring late in the game, making his final four shots, Tanner was 2-for-10 from the field.
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Vanderbilt won handily anyway, 74-51, giving up their second-fewest points in the Mark Byington era. Vanderbilt gave up 47 points in a rout of Bellarmine to kick off the season on Nov. 2. Ace Glass and Anthony Brown Jr. also stepped up as scorers, scoring 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Tanner finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
"They keep rotating those guys in there at you," Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. "Those bigs, and then Glass and (Brown), he's got a pretty good body for a guy that age. Those guys are pretty tough and physical."
Vanderbilt (2-0) out-rebounded Wake Forest, 48-33, and collected 17 offensive rebounds, which helped overcome a 39% shooting night from the field, including going just 2-for-5 on dunks and 12-for-24 on layups.
But the Commodores can lean on that defense. The Demon Deacons (1-1) shot 35% from the field and committed 12 turnovers to Vanderbilt's seven.
"You've got to win in different ways, and everybody on our team did some positive things and it helped us win," Byington said. "Ant Brown had a spurt there that was really good, and same thing with Ace Glass. And I thought Chandler Bing, I thought he was probably the most solid guy for us on offense and defense tonight. ... It does show our depth. It shows different guys."
The last two seasons, Vanderbilt was built around offense with players like Duke Miles, Tyler Nickel, Jason Edwards and Devin McGlockton. But Byington built this team more around defense by bringing in players like Berke Buyuktuncel and Sebastian Williams-Adams plus giving Bing a bigger role.
So far, that strategy has worked. It remains to be seen whether the Commodores will have enough offense to get a bucket when they need, but at the very least, this game made it seem like their defense will keep them in games.
Glass and Brown could be the keys. Byington previously promised that Brown and Tanner could play together, and that was borne out. Vanderbilt can now choose between smaller lineups with some combo of Brown, Tanner and Glass, or bigger lineups with Buyuktuncel, Williams-Adams and along with Bangot Dak or Jayden Leverett.
"I feel like we won't struggle in that aspect of someone's shots not falling," Bing said. "We've got a lot of guys that can make shots, a lot of guys that can make plays."
Buyuktuncel, normally a very efficient post scorer, went 2-for-9 from the field, and one of those shots was a 3-pointer. Williams-Adams took just three shots and made only one. T.O. Barrett was 1-for-4 and Dak was 1-for-7. Even improving on the dunks and layups could raise Vanderbilt's offensive ceiling.
But for now, they've found out something important: they have enough on both ends of the court to pick up Tanner, even on his rare off nights.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tyler Tanner's off night didn't stop Vanderbilt basketball in win vs Wake Forest