Vanderbilt Routs Tennessee on Foul Night for Volunteers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee came in from the snow falling outside Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym Tuesday night, but the Volunteers never managed to heat up. Outplayed and outworked by the Commodores, Tennessee fell behind 19-4 less than eight minutes in, and ensured that the only drama would be whether Bruce Pearl would choose to be ejected from the game or suffer through a beating on the road..

That, and whether the officials could break a record -- or a whistle -- with all the foul calls. Before all was said and done Vanderbilt would attempt 43 free throws, hitting 37, and a raucous student section would break out the following chants, "Lane Kiffin," "Tyler Smith," "JP Prince sucks," "JP Princess," and others.

As Vandy raced to a 27-point second-half lead on the way to a 90-71 victory, the top two spots of the SEC East looked set. Absent a huge upset in Lexington Saturday, Vandy and Kentucky will be dueling for the top spot in the SEC down the final seven games of the basketball season.

Dive in for observations from a night in snowy Nashville that left two Top 25 SEC teams standing at identical 18-5 overall records.

1. As the game begins, one lone fan in an orange shirt is sitting amidst the white T-shirt clad Vandy students.

During the early commercial breaks the student section turns from the court and chants "A--hole," at him. Then, for good measure, the Vanderbilt Commodore mascot arrives and taunts him too.

The game has only just begun and already this guy is in for a long night.

2. Vanderbilt point guard Jermaine Beal, who many SEC coaches feel is giving John Wall a run as the league's best point guard, drains a 3-pointer to put the 'Dores up 17-4 with 13:29 left in the first half.

From this point on Vandy will not lead by less than 10. Taking just 10 shots from the floor, Beal will finish with 20 total points.

3. With his team down 19-6, Pearl gets a technical.

If this is an attempt to fire his own team up, it doesn't work. The Commodores surge out to a 30-10 advantage.

Funniest comment read on Twitter during the game: Bruce Pearl looks just like The Situation will in 20 years.

GTL, orange blazer baby.

4. Vanderbilt's A.J. Ogilvy snags a quick technical foul on his second shove of the first 10 minutes.

My friend Tardio suggests that Ogilvy has been given the technical foul for his new blond hairstyle. A hairstyle, mind you, that was the front page story in the local sports section, replete with six color photos of the hairstyle changes over Ogilvy's career. It also featured this quote from Ogilvy, "I've really always had some highlights in my hair. This time I just put in a whole lot of highlights."

How soft is Ogilvy?

He makes former Vandy center Will Purdue look like Bill Laimbeer.

Nevertheless, Ogilvy, who has been dominated by Wayne Chism for most of the duo's career, appears to be playing with renewed energy. In fact, and this is purely speculation, it almost looks as if Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings has challenged Ogilvy to set the tone of the game by picking up an early technical foul.

Regardless of his motivations, Ogilvy's physical presence is a reflection of a stifling defensive presence by Vanderbilt. Tennessee's offensive efficiency is atrocious.

5. Tennessee's Chism hits a three to cut Vanderbilt's lead to 30-13.

A Vol fan sitting in the lower level explodes out of his seat, begging for anything to cheer for.

He claps his right hand into an arm stump.

Somehow, this celebration sums up the Vols' effort on the night.

6. Melvin Goins, back-up Vol point guard, comes in and offers some possibility that the Vols can score a basket.

Slowly the lead dwindles back down to 13 at 36-23 by the television timeout with under four minutes to play in the first half. But Vandy's Brad Tinsley hits a running overhead lob shot with a degree of difficulty approaching 10, to send the Commodores into the locker room up 44-27.

7. Steven Pearl's first half stat line: four minutes, 0-2 from field, one rebound, and three fouls.

If Pearl played 40 minutes he's on pace to finish with 30 fouls.

And here's the deal, none of the 30 fouls would actually be fouls. I think referees pick on him because they don't like Bruce.

8. At halftime, an Asian woman juggles bowls while wearing red heels and riding on a unicycle.

I feel like she would distribute the basketball better than Tennessee's point guards did in the first half -- she's got great vision and body control.

If former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach could find a kicker during halftime, couldn't Pearl find a point guard?

She draws the greatest applause of the night.

9. The media lunch in Vandy's lounge is meatballs and chicken fingers.

As I survey the meatballs, eyebrow raised skeptically, a Vanderbilt student newspaper writer approaches and says, "The meatballs are surprisingly tasty."

This sounds like the line that Hugh Grant always drops in a romantic comedy to meet the lady.

And, no, I did not think that because I just watched Notting Hill in the cardio theater on a midday jog while training for a half-marathon. For the record, there was another bearded man wiping a tear from his eye when Julia Roberts said, "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

Someone else entirely.

I might as well dye my hair and join Ogilvy's inevitable Aussie boy band.

10. Vandy's Jeffrey Taylor is the best player on the court in the first half, scoring 16 points on just five field goal attempts.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings later comments on Taylor's performance. "He and I had a little discussion yesterday before practice. I told him that he's one of the only guys I've ever coached who is a better shooter than he thinks he is."

11. Early in the second half, Tennessee's J.P. Prince's finger roll cuts the lead to 10 at 46-36.

Suddenly, for the first time all night, the gym is quiet. The Commodores, who have been unable to maintain a lead all season, are letting yet another one slip away.

But then Jermaine "Dollar" Beal answers with a three and the game is effectively over.

12. Ultimately, Vandy answers the Volunteers cutting the lead to 10 points by embarking on a 20-3 run.

Twenty-to-three runs are never good to endure, but they're even worse when they began while you're trailing by 10 already.

And with 12:38 remaining, Vandy is up 27 points and Bruce Pearl is motioning for Vol athletic director Mike Hamilton to come speak with him.

Asked later what their conversation was about, Pearl deadpanned, "I wanted to make sure he had a good seat."

13. Ultimately, Vanderbilt will attempt 43 free throws, hitting 37.

"They shot 43 and we weren't trying to foul them," said Pearl, meaning that there were no intentional fouls down the stretch.

14. But on this cold night, free throws hardly made the difference in the game, Vanderbilt simply dominated from the opening tip.

In so doing, the Commodores put themselves in a position to potentially play Kentucky in 11 days for a share of the SEC East lead. But that's in the future. For one night, Vanderbilt fans could exult in the sweet sensation of their first season sweep of the Vols since 2004.

"Take your ugly jacket back to Knoxville," screamed a Commodore zealot, one of the 14.316 in attendance, directed to the dapper, orange Tennessee coach, as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

For one night at least, Bruce Pearl had no witty retort.

Stalllings, for his part, was impressed with the intensity that the home crowd brought as the Commodores won their 17th consecutive home game. "Our fans were ready to play tonight," Stallings said. "They played as well as my team did."

So well that a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament looks like a virtual certainty.