Luke Kornet looked pretty nervous at the free throw line last night with 44 seconds left against Auburn. He was trying to drain one from the stripe to complete a triple double for the game. Luke, a 74% free throw shooter before last night, had struggled a little bit from the stripe.  Coach Stallings said he employed a new offense in the last two minutes against Auburn, “Nobody shoot but Luke.” Kevin said that mostly jokingly, but he was aware Luke was very close to completing only the second triple-double in Vanderbilt basketball history. Brad Tinsley had done it on November 12, 2010, with 11 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.

Luke had already tallied 11 rebounds and 11 blocks. He was a machine on defense guarding the glass with Damian Jones saddled on the bench with four fouls. Luke missed the first of two, and then put up the second to try and reach 10 points, but it bounced off the rim. However, Nolan Cressler made the most unselfish, team- oriented play, when he tipped it back out to Luke off the miss, and Luke sank a semi lay-up in the middle of the lane, a tough shot, to get to 11 points and finish off an incredible night, as he, Wade Baldwin IV and the rest of the team had a stellar night in a much needed 75-57 SEC victory over Auburn before 10,414 fans at Memorial Coliseum.

Luke’s effort was terrific and in his interview he seemed embarrassed that the team was trying so hard to get him the triple-double. That’s the kind of guy he is. He’s humble, a total team player. He’s an incredible positive force for the team according to Kevin. It was a huge victory for our basketball team. I thought we had played two pretty good games on the road last week at Arkansas and South Carolina, but just came up short, 90-85, in overtime against an Arkansas team under Mike Anderson that is always good and rarely ever loses at Bud Walton Arena. In the last four years, Anderson is 74-9 at Bud Walton. We played them a heckuva game with Luke making a super pass to Damian and Damian slamming the ball home as time expired to send the game into overtime. We came up a little short there, then gave South Carolina, one of two only unbeaten teams in the country along with SMU, everything they wanted, losing 69-65 at Columbia. After dropping our SEC opener to LSU, 90-82, we were 0-3 in the conference and in a must win situation against an Auburn team that has been depleted by injuries this season, particularly in their backcourt. But we still had to get the job done and there was pressure on us to win last night. We played well and are now 9-7 overall and 1-3 in the conference with some key games coming up. They’re all key now.

Luke came through, Wade played superb going for 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Riley was three-of-four from trifecta and played an excellent game, finishing the night with 13 points and five boards. Jeff Roberson played a heckuva game posting 14 points and eight boards. Damian saw limited action playing only 13 minutes because of foul trouble. He played very well when he was in finishing 4-of-5 from the field and one of two from the stripe for nine points and pulling down four rebounds, but these SEC refs are really giving him a hard time with fouls. I’ve seen about five or six fouls called on Damian that have been jokes; not even close to being fouls. I know it’s frustrating for him. We’ve just got to figure out a way to keep him from getting calls going against him. It’s really bothersome. He’s playing some of his best basketball right now, and it’s like the refs in the SEC are targeting him. It’s really bad. Hopefully, we can get that worked out and get Dame can get in the flow of the game because he’s really playing well right now.

Josh Henderson gave us some good minutes with Damian out. Josh finished with five points and four boards. Josh is a very good option for us. He’s a good offensive scorer and bangs well with the big guys in the conference. He’s going to help us a lot in January and February. Such a class young guy too, as he came back for his sixth year to play on this team. He really helps his basketball team and the team really likes him.

Matt Fisher Davis is out right now with a sore foot, but we might get him back sooner than later. Maybe Saturday against Alabama, maybe next Wednesday on the road against Tennessee. The MRI on his foot was negative, so we should get him back soon. Luke and Camron Justice came back a couple of weeks earlier than expected, so I bet MFD does the same. We need him back as soon as possible, but can’t rush him back too soon, as we need his foot to heal for the rest of the season. Need Matt’s shooting and his skills on the court. He’s a good defender and pretty good rebounder, too.

Our young guys got opportunities to play; Joe Toye, Camron and Samir Sehic. Samir had a really nice tip in off a missed shot, and Camron and Joe are hustling out there and getting it figured out. All three guys have very good potential and can help us this year.

One more guy I want to mention is Nolan Cressler. Nolan is coming off the bench and giving us some really good hustle minutes. His tip back to Luke for Luke’s final basket was a beautiful hustle play. Nolan may not be shooting up to his standards yet, but he will, and he’s a good rebounder. Nolan sank both free throws he shot and pulled down three boards in nine minutes. I kind of equate Nolan’s first year to Derrick Byars’ first year when he came to us from Virginia. Derrick struggled some in his first year, but really got it together at the end of his junior season and had an awesome senior year helping lead the 2006-07 team to the Sweet 16 and almost the Elite Eight and even better. I see the same progressing with Nolan. He’s going to be an excellent player for us. He was an outstanding shooter at Cornell and was one of our top players in practice last year. I see that happening sooner than later for Nolan. His hustle is big for us though even if he’s not making the shots right now. I do expect him to start making shots though. That will also help our team.

We’ll need Nolan and all the guys off the bench including Carter Josephs to get this team playing really good basketball in February and March, and most importantly, right now.

We have Alabama at home on Saturday at 5 PM CT/6 PM ET on the SEC Network. Gotta get the job done again on Saturday. A week from today, Wednesday, Jan.2oth, we play at Tennessee for an 8 PM CT/9 PM ET tip on the SEC Network.

Brandt, Luke List  and Jon Curran are all playing in the Sony Open this week in Honolulu. That’s exciting. Brandt has a real shot to win, and Luke shot -7 in the Monday qualifier to get in the field. All three guys have a  good shot. Brandt played very well at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last week in Maui as he shot -21 for the three days and finished in a tie for third with Brooks Koepka, an event Jordan Spieth won and Patrick Reed finished second in.

Had an awesome talk with Vanderbilt women’s tennis coach Geoff McDonald. Great guy, terrific coach. Will have a write up on Geoff and the team early next week. His team is cranking up the season as they head to Miami tomorrow for a tourney and get ready to try to defend their national title from last year. Geoff says he and his team don’t talk about that though. He’s just like Corbs. Geoff wants to get better every day. He’s got some terrific players on the team this season as Frances Altick is ranked 15th in the country, Sydney Campbell is 24th and Astra Sharma is 33rd. We have some serious talent which I’ll elaborate on next week.

Will get something going with Corbs as well. Baseball is ranked third in the D-1 Baseball preseason poll. Florida is first and Louisville is second.

Good stuff for the basketball team. They’re all big from now on but we really need to win on Saturday against a talented Alabama team, that is 9-5 on the season and 0-2 in conference. They lost to Ole Miss on the road last Thursday and to UK at home on Saturday. But they did beat Wichita State and Notre Dame on consecutive nights in the Advocare Invitiational in late November.

Derek and company on the road recruiting and hosting some key recruits this weekend and next with key visitors in town. Will have any commitment news as soon as it pops up. Defensive end Kelvin Lucky, a solid three-star from Edgewood Academy in Elmore Alabama in south central Alabama near the state capital of Montgomery, is close to maybe pulling the trigger. Kelvin’s former teammate, Josh Crawford, is a rising sophomore running back on our team. Kelvin is an 87 three-star by 247 sports. Some other good guys in the mix. Will keep you posted. high three star quarterback Deuce Wallace, four-star cornerback Joejuan Williams and high three-star safety Zaire Jones, all highly recruited players by us and other SEC schools, are early enrollees and will be participating in spring practice, which starts towards the end of  February. Good to have those three aboard. They’re going to be major impact players for us in the future. Possibly next year as freshmen.