Tanner leads No. 24 Vanderbilt against No. 23 Tennessee after 34-point showing

Vanderbilt Commodores (23-7, 10-7 SEC) at Tennessee Volunteers (21-9, 11-6 SEC)

Knoxville, Tennessee; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 24 Vanderbilt visits No. 23 Tennessee after Tyler scored 34 points in Vanderbilt’s 89-86 overtime victory against the Ole Miss Rebels.

The Volunteers are 14-2 in home games. Tennessee is the leader in the SEC at limiting opponent scoring, allowing 68.9 points while holding opponents to 40.8% shooting.

The Commodores are 10-7 against SEC opponents. Vanderbilt is fifth in the SEC with 16.6 assists per game led by Tanner averaging 5.3.

Tennessee makes 46.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.3 percentage points higher than Vanderbilt has allowed to its opponents (42.4%). Vanderbilt scores 18.1 more points per game (87.0) than Tennessee allows (68.9).

The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Tennessee won 69-65 in the last matchup on Feb. 21. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led Tennessee with 17 points, and Tanner led Vanderbilt with 16 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Gillespie averages 2.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Volunteers, scoring 18.0 points while shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc. Nate Ament is shooting 40.6% and averaging 17.8 points over the past 10 games.

Tyler Nickel is shooting 40.1% from beyond the arc with 3.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Commodores, while averaging 13.9 points. Tanner is averaging 22.2 points, 5.4 assists and 2.7 steals over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Volunteers: 7-3, averaging 75.2 points, 39.1 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points per game.

Commodores: 6-4, averaging 80.7 points, 31.5 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 6.4 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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