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01/10/26 04:22:00
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01/10 15:43 CST Vanderbilt lone program in nation with both men, women still
perfect at 16-0 apiece
Vanderbilt lone program in nation with both men, women still perfect at 16-0
apiece
By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) --- Memorial Magic is back in a very big way for
Vanderbilt with the Southeastern Conference's only private university as the
nation's only program with both its men's and women's teams still undefeated.
And both are playing some of the best ball in the long history of this program.
The 11th-ranked men matched the best start in program history Saturday. beating
LSU for Vanderbilt's 16th win, matching the start by the 2007-08 squad. The
women already are 16-0, ranked No. 7 and visit Texas A&M on Sunday needing a
win to match the school-record 17-game streak by the 1992-93 Final Four team to
open that season.
Add in football with its its historic season, and Vanderbilt's top three
programs are a combined 42-3.
Men's coach Mark Byington, in his second season, said sharing the Huber Center,
which opened in January 2025, allows him to watch Shea Ralph and her assistants
and players work every day. He hopes she can say the same thing about his team.
"Both teams prepare really hard, and we cheer for each other like crazy ...,"
Byington said. "The way that their culture is is very impressive, and I know
it's a reason for the success and just how hard they work. So I hope some ...
say the same thing about us and I think it's what we try to do as well."
Credit goes to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and athletic director Candice Storey
Lee. They started their Vandy United fundraiser that helped build that new
basketball building where the men and women have their own separate floors with
gyms, locker rooms, meeting rooms and offices.
Lee lured Shea Ralph away from UConn in April 2021. She fired Jerry Stackhouse
and hired Byington after he coached James Madison to a first-round upset of
Wisconsin at the NCAA Tournament in March 2024. He took a program that went
9-23 before he arrived to the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first
time since 2017.
Byington, who coached alongside Curt Cignetti, head coach of Indiana's
top-ranked football team, during his tenure at James Madison and has helped the
Commodores take a bigger step in his second season.
His Commodores have trailed for only 22 minutes, 2 seconds combined, over only
three games. Their biggest deficit? Five points against Western Kentucky and
Memphis, and they've only trailed twice after halftime.
New Haven coach Ted Hotaling got an up-close look as the Commodores wrapped up
the nonconference slate. His team opened the season at UConn and also played
Seton Hall, and Hotaling said, "This is, I think, the best offensive team that
we've played."
LSU coach Matt McMahon says sophomore guard Tyler Tanner has turned into one of
basketball's great closers. Alabama coach Nate Oats said Wednesday night the
SEC championship comes through Vanderbilt after the Commodores beat his Crimson
Tide.
Byington isn't looking past a visit to Texas on Wednesday night at what might
be possible this season.
"You look too far ahead in this league, you get so anxious you might not want
to coach anymore or play anymore. Like it's like a gauntlet, it is a challenge
every one of them," Byington said. "So I know it's coaches' speak. It's just
what's next, one at a time. And then do the best you can."
Ralph has taken Vanderbilt to consecutive NCAA Tournaments still looking for
the program's first win since 2013. Missouri coach Kellie Harper, whose Tigers
lost to Vanderbilt on Thursday night, said Ralph established what she wanted
the Commodores to look like at the start, with playing hard the signature.
"As she continues to bring in really talented players, you can see it's the
same effort," Harper said. "It's the same philosophy, but she's got a lot of
really good players on the court now."
The best is sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes, the SEC's leading scorer averaging
23.8 points. The Vanderbilt coach knows from her experience winning
championships at UConn that having great players is nice. Having a complete
team matters as much, if not more.
"We're formidable because we are a great team," Ralph said. "And I think in
order to do the things that we want to do here in this program, this year and
beyond, we need to have a great team for chemistry, our culture, our
contributions, all the things on the court, off the court in the classroom, in
the community. It all matters."
All five starters scored at least 15 points against Missouri --- only the
second time since 1999-00 that an SEC team had managed that. Senior Justine
Pissott, who transferred from Tennessee after her freshman season, said every
player on the roster wants to win "really bad."
"Every year since I've been here, we said, ?Dang, we're right there,'" Pissott
said. "And it's like, we don't really want to say we're right there anymore.
It's like, ?We did that.'"
For Ralph, that daily approach is what she wants to see.
"We're going to operate a certain way, so that we give ourselves our chance to
be competitive for championships," she said.
___
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