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The No. 11 Vanderbilt Commodores represent one of the more surprising stories of the early college basketball season. They began the year 14-0, which included victories over SMU, Memphis and at South Carolina in the SEC opener, but Vandy faced its first real test Wednesday when the No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide came to Memorial Gym. The Commodores passed that test with a 96-90 victory.

Sophomore guard Tyler Tanner was the star of the show, as he scored a career-high 29 points on 8 of 15 shooting, and added seven assists and four steals. The 29 points Tanner scored were the most by a Vanderbilt player vs. a top 15 team since 2022. He also went 12 of 15 from the charity stripe -- all in the second half. In fact, a whopping 23 of Tanner's 29 points came in the second half.

Tanner became the first player since former Oklahoma star Trae Young in 2018 to score 25 points, record seven assists and rack up four steals in an AP top 15 matchup, according to CBS Sports Research. Over the last 30 years, DeAndre Kane, Chris Paul and Mike Bibby are the only other players to accomplish the feat.

Now 15-0, Vandy is off to its second-best start in program history, and is one of six remaining undefeated teams in Division I. It's surprising for a number of reasons, as coach Mark Byington is utilizing what appeared to be a hodgepodge of talent. The Commodores' leading scorer, Duke Miles, is a transfer that played at Troy, High Point and Oklahoma. Their leading rebounder, Devin McGlockton, is in his second season with Vandy after transferring in from Boston College. Tyler Nickel transferred in last year from Virginia Tech after a year at North Carolina, Jalen Washington is a new player that spent three seasons at UNC and Tyler Harris began his college career at Portland before playing at Washington. 

The SEC preseason poll projected Vanderbilt to finish 11th. Not only is Vanderbilt in the top 10 in the conference, but emerging as a top-10 team, nationally, too.