The Vanderbilt basketball team has had a special season, under second-year head coach Mark Byington. Vanderbilt though lost a really tough game on Saturday to Florida, by a 98-94 score. This was just the second loss of the season for the Commodores.
Following the heartbreaking defeat, Coach Byington is trying to find a positive.
“There's definitely a lot of positive takeaways. I think coming into the game, they might have been the best rebounding team in the country. If not, they're close,” Byington said, per 247 Sports. “It was a major focus in our short preparation to be able to get ready to try to do the best we can, and it's tough. The ball goes up, and they come welling on you.”
The Commodores struggled on the glass. Vanderbilt was out rebounded in the game by the Gators, 36-22. That was a clear difference in the contest. Vanderbilt was able to force more turnovers, but allowed Florida to grab 27 defensive boards.
Byington is still proud of his club, who is now 16-2 on the season. He feels Vanderbilt will learn from the loss.
“They've been blowing out people, and the frustrating thing is we had our chances, whatever it might be, an inch or two here or there, call here or two there, something here or there, we get to win. So it'll make us stronger, make us better, and we'll bounce back from it,” he added.
The Commodores now hold a 3-2 SEC conference mark on the season. The club has lost back-to-back games, after a recent loss also to Texas. Vanderbilt next plays Arkansas on Tuesday, who is also coming off a disappointing loss to Georgia.
Byington previously coached at James Madison, before coming to Vanderbilt in 2024.
