Anchor Drop, December 22, 2019: Big Night for Basketball

Good morning.

Saturday night saw both Vanderbilt basketball teams win. The women’s basketball team won in buzzer-beating fashion, 76-74, over Washington in the second game of the Husky Classic. The Commodores rallied from a 49-38 halftime deficit to force the game into overtime, and Mariella Fasoula scored the last two of her 19 points in the closing seconds to give Vanderbilt the win. That improves the Commodores to 9-3 on the season, already two wins better than last year’s 7-23 campaign.

Meanwhile, back at Memorial Gym, Aaron Nesmith tied his career high with 34 points in the men’s team’s 88-73 win over UNC Wilmington. This was one of those weird games in which Vanderbilt never completely put the game out of reach, but never really seemed threatened in the second half (UNC Wilmington never got the game within 10 points after halftime.)

And now, both teams head into Christmas break. The women won’t play again until hosting Columbia on December 29, while the men are back in action on December 30 against Davidson. I’m just going to go ahead and guess that there won’t be much Vanderbilt news for the next week, and I’ll be traveling Monday through Thursday anyway. I’ll still try to get the Anchor Drop every day as I can, but it’s mostly just going to be your daily open thread... you know, what it always is, just minus the actual Vanderbilt sports news.

Daily Viewing Guide

Thanks to the NFL throwing in Saturday games this time of year, per 506 Sports, the NFL effectively has some national games. FOX has the Saints at the Titans early in most of the country, followed by Dallas-Philadelphia (because freaking of course) late. CBS will show Baltimore-Cleveland to most of the country, but the Nashville market for some reason is getting Raiders at Chargers. Chiefs at Bears is your Sunday night game on NBC.

College football bowl games have the day off, and outside the SEC games listed below there aren’t many interesting college basketball games — and no national NBA or NHL broadcasts that I can see.

NBC Sports has Watford FC v. Manchester United at 7:55 AM and Tottenham Hotspur v. Chelsea at 10:25. There, I acknowledged the Premier League.

Bad Gambling Advice

Yesterday: 7-3-1 ATS, 7-4 totals; Season to date: 56-53-2 ATS, 65-45-1 totals

South Carolina at Virginia (2:00 PM CT, ABC): South Carolina +12, Under 111.5

New Mexico State vs. Mississippi State (2:00 PM, SEC Network): Mississippi State -5.5, Over 128

Scoreboard

SEC Basketball: Tennessee 75, Jacksonville State 53 ... Missouri 63, Illinois 56 ... Ole Miss 83, SE Louisiana 76 ... Utah State 65, Florida 62 ... Alabama 92, Belmont 72 ... Ohio State 71, Kentucky 65 ... Auburn 74, Lehigh 51 ... Arkansas 72, Valparaiso 68 ... Texas A&M 64, Oregon State 49 ... USC 70, LSU 68.

NFL: Texans 23, Buccaneers 20 ... Patriots 24, Bills 17 ... 49ers 34, Rams 31.

NBA: Jazz 114, Hornets 107 ... Nets 122, Hawks 112 ... 76ers 125, Wizards 108 ... Bulls 119, Pistons 107 ... Bucks 123, Knicks 102 ... Grizzlies 119, Kings 115 ... Clippers 134, Spurs 109 ... Rockets 139, Suns 125 ... Trail Blazers 113, Timberwolves 106.

NHL: Sabres 3, Kings 2 ... Ducks 6, Islanders 5 ... Jets 6, Wild 0 ... Predators 4, Bruins 3 ... Maple Leafs 4, Red Wings 1 ... Flyers 5, Senators 4 ... Capitals 3, Lightning 1 ... Panthers 4, Hurricanes 2 ... Blue Jackets 5, Devils 1 ... Oilers 4, Canadiens 3 ... Blackhawks 5, Avalanche 3 ... Canucks 4, Penguins 1 ... Blues 5, Sharks 2.