March 5, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The question was posed to Luke Kornet on Saturday afternoon, a simple query in reference to Vanderbilt’s shot at the NCAA tournament: Do you think you’re in?
Kornet chuckled. But before the Commodores’ 7’1” senior could answer, fellow senior Nolan Cressler leaned over to the microphone.
“Yes,” Cressler said.
Cressler’s feelings are probably shared in Vanderbilt’s locker room following Saturday’s 73-71 win over No. 12 Florida at Memorial Gym. The Commodores closed coach Bryce Drew’s first season 17-14 overall and 10-8 in the SEC, but they finished by winning nine of their final 13 games. The program heads into next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville slated to face 10-seed Texas A&M as a 7-seed on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Vanderbilt can still add to its tournament résumé, but Drew thinks the `Dores have done enough to warrant an invite to the Big Dance.
“I’m biased, obviously,” Drew said, “but I think we should be in.”
ELLIS: Cleaning the Glass from Vanderbilt’s win vs. Florida
Indeed, Vanderbilt’s regular-season résumé is difficult to ignore. The `Dores boasts five top-50 wins and 11 top-100 victories after disposing of Florida on Saturday. And all five top-50 wins have come since Jan. 28, including a pair of wins over ranked Gators squads.
The Commodores have shown resiliency since the midway point of the season. Following a loss at Georgia on Jan. 17, Vanderbilt sat 8-10 and riding a four-game losing streak. A trip to the NCAA tournament seemed like a far-fetched notion in Drew’s first season. But since then, Korent said Vanderbilt has been a different team.
“We just kind of put everything down and decided to bond as a team and go win games,” Kornet said. “I think that’s helped our focus a lot down the stretch.”
Vanderbilt is playing well, but on Saturday Drew admitted his team has little room for error. The `Dores currently feature an RPI of 45 and a strength of schedule that ranks second nationally. Still, an opening loss to Texas A&M (RPI 86) in the SEC Tournament won’t help their cause. That’s why Drew said the Commodores still have to take care of business.
“If we had 20 [wins] right now, I’d feel really good,” Drew said, “but obviously we don’t. We can only control what we can control. These last 10 or 11 games, we’ve played almost as well as anyone in the country.”
The 7-seed Commodores face 10-seed Texas A&M at the SEC Tournament on Thursday at 6 pm CT. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
