Jason Edwards scored 18 points as Vanderbilt held off No. 6 Tennessee 76-75 on Saturday for the Commodores’ second straight win.
Fans stormed the court for the first sellout at Memorial Gym since 2019 after the Commodores (15-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) won for only the second time in the last 14 games of this series.
Jaylen Carey added 14 for Vanderbilt. Tyler Nickel had 13 and AJ Hoggard 11.
Mark Byington, Vandy’s fourth different coach to face off against Rick Barnes during his 10 years with the Vols, matched the lone win by Jerry Stackhouse and Bryce Drew each. Only Kevin Stallings (2-1) left Vandy with a winning mark over Barnes’ Vols.
Tennessee (16-2, 3-2) now has lost two of its first three SEC road games. Chaz Lanier led Tennessee with 17 points, and Zakai Zeigler, Igor Milicic Jr. and Felix Okpara each had 17.
The Vols had a chance to force overtime. Lanier made his first free throw with 2.8 seconds left but missed the second.
Takeaways
Tennessee: The Vols gave up more than 70 points for the second time this season and have lost both games. That’s with Vanderbilt going scoreless over the final 3:28.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores had no issues inside despite not having the size Tennessee does. They outrebounded the Vols 29-25.
Key moment
When Tennessee pulled within 41-40 to start the second half on a 3 by Milicic, the Commodores responded with four straight 3s with Nickel’s fourth 3 of the game putting Vandy up 53-40 with 16:39 left. They led by as much as 16.
Key stat
The Vols scored the final nine points of the game. It wasn’t enough.
Up next
Tennessee returns home to host No. 15 Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt visits No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday night.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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