Tyler Tanner Scores 20 as No. 24 Vanderbilt Buries Bellarmine 93-47 With a 30-3 Run

For about 10 minutes, Bellarmine played Vanderbilt even. Then Memorial Gymnasium turned into a wind tunnel. Vanderbilt closed the first half on a 30-3 run, stretched it into a 41-3 avalanche after the break and buried Bellarmine 93-47 in Monday night's season opener in Nashville.

Tyler Tanner, the preseason AP All-American who passed on the NBA draft to come back for his junior year, led the way with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, six assists and four steals. The 46-point margin was the largest in a Vanderbilt season opener since 1913, according to the Vanderbilt recap (opens in a new tab), and the No. 24 Commodores never trailed.

It was the first time Vanderbilt opened a season ranked since 2015-16. Based on the first 40 minutes, the ranking might be conservative.

A Tie Game, Then a Tidal Wave

The early minutes did not hint at a blowout. Bellarmine, coming off a season in which it led the nation in field goal percentage, moved the ball well enough to hang at 14-14 with a little under 11 minutes to go in the first half. Then Vanderbilt went up 17-14, and the floor tilted.

The Commodores scored the next 12 points and kept going. By halftime it was 44-17, which means Vanderbilt outscored the Knights 30-3 over roughly the final 10 minutes of the half. The engine was the defense. Vanderbilt's guards jumped passing lanes, forced live-ball turnovers and turned them into easy points the other way. Bellarmine shot 29.2 percent in the first half, 7-of-24, and went 2-of-12 from 3. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, shot 57.7 percent before the break, 15-of-26, with five 3s.

The second half opened the same way. Vanderbilt scored the first 11 points to go up 55-17, and the Knights went 10 minutes and 15 seconds without a field goal across the two halves. That 41-3 stretch is the type of run that ends a game in the first 25 minutes, and coach Mark Byington's starters were on the bench for good with 6:49 left and an 80-34 lead.

Tanner Sets the Tone

Tanner has been the face of the program's rise, and Monday showed why. The point guard averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game last season, finishing fourth in the SEC in scoring, and opened this one by doing all three things at once. Tanner went 7-of-10 from the field, 1-of-3 from deep and 5-of-8 at the line in 28 minutes. Six assists, four steals and zero turnovers is the kind of stat line coaches frame.

The zero is the key number. Bellarmine committed 23 turnovers. Tanner, handling the ball as much as anyone on the floor, had none. That gap is what separates an All-American point guard from everybody else on the court, and it was the difference in the 30-3 run.

The individual buzz is already loud. Vanderbilt announced on game day that Tanner had made the Naismith Player of the Year watch list, and that came after spots on the NABC Player of the Year and Bob Cousy Award watch lists in late October. Watch lists are cheap in November. Nights like this one are how they turn into real hardware in March.

Chandler Bing, the other returning starter from last season's team, added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting with three steals and a block. Bing looked comfortable as the second option and is the player most likely to make the leap this season.

The New Faces Fit Right In

Vanderbilt lost four starters from last year's 27-win team: Tyler Nickel, Duke Miles, Devin McGlockton and AK Okereke. The roster is among the youngest in college basketball, with seven freshmen and four sophomores. So the opener was partly an introduction, and the introductions went well.

Berke Büyüktuncel, the Nebraska transfer forward, was perfect: 5-of-5 from the field, 1-of-1 from 3 and 2-of-2 at the line for 13 points in 21 minutes. Ace Glass, who averaged 16.4 points as a freshman at Washington State, added 12 points with two 3s. Sebastian Williams-Adams pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, four of them offensive, and scored nine points, one board short of a double-double.

Missouri transfer T.O. Barrett, who sat out the exhibition loss to Miami with an injury, returned and filled the box quietly with four points, five rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes. Freshman guard Anthony Brown Jr. had seven points and three assists off the bench. Fourteen Commodores played and 12 scored, and the bench put up 28 points.

That depth is the point. Last season's team leaned on a veteran core. This version needs the young players to grow fast, and opening night was a good sign that they can at least handle the speed of the defense.

The Numbers Behind 93-47

The official box score (opens in a new tab) reads like a clinic. Vanderbilt shot 60 percent from the field (33-of-55), 37 percent from 3 (7-of-19) and 80 percent at the line (20-of-25). The Commodores scored 48 points in the paint and more than 30 points off Bellarmine turnovers.

They also bullied the glass. Vanderbilt outrebounded the Knights 38-20, including 11 offensive boards, and assisted on 19 of its 33 field goals. The Commodores had 12 steals to Bellarmine's five.

For the Knights, the night was a grind. Bellarmine shot 37 percent and 5-of-21 from 3, and nobody reached double figures. DeMarcus Surratt led the way with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting off the bench. Jacob Wassler added eight with two 3s, and Julius Gizzi scored seven. Sam Donald had a rough night with six turnovers and 2-of-9 shooting, and Kenyon Goodin, last season's 11.6-point scorer, managed two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

Tyler Doyle, one of the returners Bellarmine was counting on, finished with six points and three assists but also three turnovers. Vanderbilt won the second half by a more modest 49-30, with reserves on the floor for the final stretch, and the Knights' bench supplied 22 of their 47 points. The damage was done long before the subs checked in.

Bellarmine is in Year 2 under Doug Davenport and lost its top two scorers from last season, Jack Karasinski and Brian Waddell. It is chasing its first winning season since 2022, and a road trip to the SEC was always going to be a rough first test. The Knights head to Indiana on Thursday, Nov. 5, for another Power Four road game.

What It Means for Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt was picked sixth in the SEC preseason media poll, which says a lot about how stacked the league is. Last season was the program's best in years: 27 wins, the most since 1992-93, a first NCAA tournament win since 2012 and a first trip to the SEC tournament title game since 2012. The question coming into this season was whether a team with this many new pieces could hold that standard.

The preseason tune-up did not answer it: Vanderbilt lost 109-96 to No. 14 Miami, which shot 58 percent. Monday was the opposite. Barrett was back, the rotation was deeper, and the ball pressure was relentless. Bellarmine is not Miami, but holding anyone to 17 points in a half is a statement.

The real test comes quickly. Wake Forest visits Memorial Gym on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5 p.m., the first high-major opponent of the season and a chance to see whether this defense travels against ACC length and athleticism.

For one night, though, the picture was clear. Tanner is still the engine. The newcomers look ready to play real minutes. And when Vanderbilt turns up the pressure, it can make an opponent disappear for 10 minutes at a time.

Sources: ESPN box score, Vanderbilt Athletics, The Associated Press, Field Level Media. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Vanderbilt Athletics.