Jerry Stackhouse had his Vanderbilt Commodores ready to play heading into the 2022 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, fully aware that the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes relied on a successful run.
Vanderbilt came into the postseason 15-15 on the season and 7-11 in league play, pitting them into the bottom four of the conference standings. This meant the ‘Dores would need to win five games in five days spread across Wednesday through Sunday in order to earn a bid for the NCAAs. And they went pretty far, all things considered.
In the team’s SEC Tournament opener on Wednesday against a Georgia squad desperate for their season to end, Vanderbilt cruised to its easiest victory in months, smacking the Bulldogs 86-51 in what would end up being the last game as head coach for UGA’s Tom Crean.