Commodores Hold Off Georgia for Much-Needed Senior Night Win
Commodore fans, I hope you got your Squishmallows.
Vanderbilt hosted their final home game of the 2025-26 season tonight, honoring seniors – Coleson Messer, Miles Keeffe, Devin McGlockton, Duke Miles, AK Okereke, Jalen Washington, and Tyler Nickel – on senior night. The Commodores were coming off two straight tough losses and a 5-6 record in their last 11 games. Mark Byington’s squad was in somewhat desperate need of a victory as the Dores close out the regular season schedule with three straight road games.
Vanderbilt came out of the gates hot, opening up a 20-point, 37-17, lead 14 minutes into the game. Fans in the building and watching at home might have had a fleeting thought, “Maybe Vanderbilt can win comfortably and I can relax for once.” Unfortunately for Commodore fans, that did not materialize. The Vanderbilt offense stalled and Georgia began knocking down shots. The Commodores carried just a 42-35 lead into halftime after starting out the game in dominant fashion.
The second half was a battle. Vanderbilt continued to look like they might take control early in the second half. The Commodores extended their lead to ten points, 57-47, on a Duke Miles three-pointer six minutes into the second half.
The game began to tighten after that. Georgia’s shooting from behind the arc picked up. Jeremiah Wilkinson consistently hit some incredibly tough shots to claw Georgia out of their deficit and keep them in the game throughout the second half. Wilkinson had 28 points on the night, leading all scorers. Eventually, Georgia pulled even at 64 with 8:36 remaining. A Tyler Nickel and-one with 5:45 on the clock got the Vanderbilt crowd on their feet and put the Dores up four, 73-69.
Vanderbilt extended the lead to five points before Jeremiah Wilkinson buried another three-pointer, this time from 31 feet, to pull Georgia back to within two. The game was back and forth until an AK Okereke and-one extended the Vanderbilt lead to seven points, 82-75, with 2:48 remaining.
Duke Miles hit a difficult shot on a drive to the basket and Tyler Tanner iced the game from the free throw line. The Vanderbilt Commodores picked up a much-needed 88-80 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs. Of course, the “poor shooting” Bulldogs shot 10-24 (42%) from behind the arc. Vanderbilt won the rebounding battle 36-29 and dominated points in the paint 44 to 26. Despite shooting just 27% from three, the Commodores never trailed.
Vanderbilt will face Kentucky in Rupp Arena this Saturday at 1pm CST on ESPN.
Box Score
Mark Byington utilized a true seven-man rotation tonight. Devin McGlockton was the MVP, putting up a double-double. He was the heart and soul of this Vanderbilt team tonight. Tyler Tanner was solid and dealt well with the physical full-court pressure of Georgia. Duke Miles once again struggled with foul trouble, but seemed in a much better rhythm than against Tennessee on Saturday. Chandler Bing’s improvement game after game is remarkable. He has become a legitimate contributor on the both ends of the court. At times he makes Freshman mistakes, but I consistently talk about Bing’s maturation as a player for a reason – it is impressive. Tyler Nickel was once again off target from outside. Vanderbilt needs to find a way to get his offensive mojo back down the stretch and entering tournament play. AK Okereke was also really good. Okereke has been extremely consistent lately. Jalen Washington was solid, and alongside McGlockton, battled hard in the paint all night with a physical Bulldog team.
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