Shan had a career high 33 points, with Derrick pouring in 18 points, 8 assisants, 9 rebounds. The 51 Derrick and Shan dropped was that duo's career high. What's notable about Derrick's night is that he only had 10 points going into OT. In OT however, he took over. He hit two quick treys and gave Vanderbilt the seperation they needed to pull away. Overall, a solid night for Derrick, especially with his 8 in OT. By my count, Derrick Byars is now responsible for at least 4 Vanderbilt wins (USC, UF, UK, @USC) this season and should be SEC Player of the Year. The Department Formerly Known as Athletics (DeFAK) is pimping Byars' POY candidacy pretty hard. If he doesn't win, I will be outraged, and we all know how messy that can get.
The most important thing about last night's win is that Vanderbilt clinched 2nd place in the SEC and therefore a bye in next week's SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt will tip off at 3:15 next Friday against the winner of the 6th Seed from the East (currently South Carolina) and the 3rd seed from the West (currently Auburn. Given the way the schedule shapes up, it is pretty reasonable to expect that those match-ups will hold up. Vanderbilt should have a great draw in the SEC tourney, but we won't know for sure until Sunday. Vanderbilt's win last night also means Commie fans in the DC area are now free next Thursday night. VSL's own J.B., M.D. and others will be attending attending the DC Alumni Chapter's Beer Tasting and Dinner at Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown. This event is a "swap" of sorts as this event is being co-sponsored with Wake Forest Alumns. Also, circle your calanders as Vanderbilt Sports Line will be kicking off the madness of March with a viewing of Vanderbilt's 2nd round game next Friday at Porter's Dining Saloon, the official bar of Bobby's job.
Last night's win also marks the first time Vanderbilt has been better than .500 in the SEC in the Kevin Stallings era; it was also Stallings' 3rd 20-win (hopefully plus) season in his tenure, making him second, only to Roy Skinner, as the only Vanderbilt coach with as many 20-win seasons. Pitch shouted out this site that we thought you all might enjoy. It's good to know that there are people out there that are at least as bored as we are.
This is the last weekend of the regular season pick'em, and I have a feeling that this one is going to come down to the wire. Seamus will have updated standings and this weekend's game posted shortly. Also, its a barn-burner for this week's Hoser, so make sure to vote. Finally, in an effort to continue to bring you the best coverage possible, we are in talks with Boyer in the District to become the official clone of VSL.
Out.
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1 comment:
Huge win. In looking at the game though, I don't know if it's fair to say Byars is responsible for the win. In some ways, he was responsible for an almost-loss (2 of 9 from the field ain't getting it done). He did come up big in OT, but so did Shan, and more than anything it was free throw shooting that sealed the victory (Byars was 7 of 10, Foster 6 of 6 down the stretch).
I'm giving Foster most of the credit for this one, and it's good to see him playing at a high level at this point because tournament teams will know they have to prepare for more than just DB.
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