Mark Byington Rips His Team's Performance After Arkansas Loss

After what Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington witnessed down nan agelong successful his team’s 93-68 nonaccomplishment to Arkansas, he felt arsenic if it was clip to speak from nan bosom arsenic he sat down astatine nan scorers array astatine Bud Walton Arena. 

Any thought that Vanderbilt’s generally-levelheaded caput coach would return it easy connected this group and picture his team’s 93-68 nonaccomplishment arsenic simply a byproduct of nan process aliases nan inevitability of SEC roadworthy games went retired nan model wrong nan first 5 seconds of his hit. Want sugarcoating? Don’t move to this feline for it. 

“Just benignant of speaking from nan heart, that was embarrassing,” Byington said successful his postgame power hit. “That's nan first clip this twelvemonth that I felt for illustration we didn't compete, and we weren't reliable and we sewage connected our heels correct away. They’re an diversion squad who plays awesome successful this building, we cognize it, but astatine nan aforesaid time, I sewage to do a amended occupation pinch our guys, 'cause that wasn't who we are.”

In immoderate ways, Byington is right. His group is surely amended than 1 that should beryllium trailing by 31 to Arkansas. It’s 1 that believed it was among nan contenders for nan SEC regular play title. Its Tuesday nighttime capacity didn’t bespeak that. 

The past week–which has included a three-game losing streak for this program–has indicated that it has immoderate activity to do successful bid to beryllium considered a existent SEC threat again. At nan very least, it has a fewer issues that it’s sewage to hole successful bid to get itself backmost successful that conversation. Vanderbilt has to find its measurement retired of past successful nan SEC’s protect ratio metrics. It’s sewage to find immoderate semblance of an reply connected nan glass. 

Perhaps bigger than all, it’s sewage to find itself again. Byington appears to beryllium each complete that thought. 

“That’s nan type of capacity wherever you want to make changes arsenic a coach,” Byington said. “I didn't do a bully occupation prepping them. We came into nan crippled pinch nan incorrect mentality.” 

Byington ripped his squad for being “scared” astir nan basket, really passive it was successful nan first 5 minutes of nan game, not knowing its reads, not being connected connected discourtesy and allowing Arkansas to get retired successful transition. 

Vanderbilt was outscored 50-22 successful nan paint, 21-8 connected nan fastbreak and was outshot 57.8%-to-37.9% from nan field. That was a disaster, a nightmare and immoderate you want to telephone it for Vanderbilt basketball. Vanderbilt was outclassed successful conscionable astir each measurement connected Tuesday night. One squad connected nan level looked for illustration a second-weekend squad while nan different 1 didn’t. 

Spoiler alert, Vanderbilt wasn’t nan squad that looked for illustration a second-weekend team. 

By nan first media timeout, Vanderbilt defender Mike James was connected nan level rolling astir successful pain, Vanderbilt was trailing 9-2–and could’ve been trailing by much had Arkansas made much unfastened looks–and nan contingent of Arkansas fans connected manus was calling nan Hogs. The segment was reminiscent of a superhero successful nan moments aft it mislaid its powers. Byington appears to beryllium sick of seeing that. 

“That was a mediocre capacity and we sewage to get backmost to work,” Byington said, “And put our digit connected precisely nan things that went wrong.”