Nov. 15, 2016
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
On campus in Nashville – Bryce Drew couldn’t help but crack a smile as he sat in front of a microphone late Tuesday night.
“Anytime you can win a game, it’s a great feeling,” Drew said. “And I think this has even a little better feeling.”
What made Tuesday’s 80-66 win over Belmont so special for Vanderbilt’s first-year head coach? First, it served as the first victory of the Drew era on West End. It was also the coach’s first taste of success at home, within the historical confines of Memorial Gym.
But only five days removed from his first true game as Vanderbilt’s new coach, Drew needed to see progress more than anything against Belmont. Major progress. And the coach got his wish.
“From our first outing to our second, we saw a lot of improvement,” Drew said.
That’s good news if you’re a Commodore fan. Last Friday, Marquette ran Vanderbilt off the floor in a 95-71 win in the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md. It was a less-than-enthusiastic kickoff to a fresh era of Commodore hoops. In that game, the Golden Eagles used a 23-4 run in the second half to dispose of Vanderbilt, which committed 19 turnovers and shot 36 percent from the floor.
This week, the last thing Drew hoped to see was a repeat of that performance against Belmont. Early on, his roster delivered. Vanderbilt shot out to a 15-point halftime lead after shooting 54 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 6-of-9 on three-pointers. The Bruins, meanwhile, struggled to just 1-for-18 from three in the first half, and they scored zero points off eight Vanderbilt turnovers.
But Belmont, under the tutelage of longtime coach Rick Byrd, fought tooth-and-nail after the break. It chipped away at the Commodores’ lead in front of a home crowd, and with 6:45 to play, Amanze Egekeze nailed a three to pull his team within four, 62-58. Egekeze’s shot was the Bruins’ eighth three-pointer of the second half, and it left Vanderbilt pressed against the ropes in Drew’s first home contest.
That’s when Matthew Fisher-Davis stepped up like an upperclassman should. With just more than six minutes to play, Fisher-Davis launched a three-pointer, drew a foul and watched as his shot rattled in the basket. The home crowd roared when the junior sank his free throw, capping a four-point play and giving Vanderbilt a 66-58 lead. The ‘Dores never looked back.
“That was another huge shot, especially one that kind of rolls around there,” senior center Luke Kornet said. “That made it that much sweeter.”
In perfect Bryce Drew style, Vanderbilt’s defense stepped up at Memorial. The ‘Dores limited Belmont to a dismal 9-of-41 from three, and the Bruins finished shooting 35 percent from the floor overall. Kornet stifled senior forward Evan Bradds, Belmont’s leading returning scorer, into 6-of-15 shooting. That defense ended up determining the ballgame in Drew’s eyes. “I thought they had some looks that I’ve seen them make in the past, but I thought that our guys used our length very well,” Drew said.
But the Commodores’ win over Belmont featured a little bit of everything: hot offense, smothering defense and a chance to withstand adversity against a talented foe. That combination helped wash the taste of a disappointing Marquette loss from the players’ mouths. It also sent Drew home with an unbeaten record (1-0) as Vanderbilt’s coach at Memorial Gym.
The significance of the moment wasn’t lost on Drew’s players. In the postgame locker room, they did their best to recognize the coach’s early milestone. But Drew, never one to seek a spotlight, would have none of it.
“We were saying congrats on the win and stuff, but he said it’s always about us, the players,” Kornet said. “We tried.”
Not to worry, Commodores. Keep playing this way, and there will be plenty of congratulating to come.
