The night started off terribly for the Vanderbilt Commodores (6-13, 2-11) once the news broke that the trio of Clevon Brown, Dylan Disu and Scotty Pippen Jr. would miss the game. The declaration was a surprising one as it was announced just 30 minutes before opening tip. Per head coach Jerry Stackhouse, Disu’s and Pippen’s absences were injury-related.
But despite the absence of the team’s top two players, Vanderbilt fought tough and was down just four points with under three minutes left in the game. No. 25 Tennessee (16-6, 9-6) received some clutch play from Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer down the line to help close out the game, but make no mistake: This was not an easy win.