Vanderbilt puts takeaway-heavy defense up against Austin Peay

Vanderbilt brings a four-game winning streak into its next-to-last tune-up for Southeastern Conference play with Austin Peay on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.The Commodores (10-1) come off their most lopsided win of the season, a 105-53 victory over The Citadel on Wednesday. That victory gave Vanderbilt one more win that it had all last season.The Governors (4-7) — who’ll travel about an hour southeast for this game — have lost five in a row, four of those by double digits.Vanderbilt is considered large favorites. With a brutal SEC schedule ahead — the Commodores, ranked 41st in the NCAA’s NET rankings, will play 11 games against teams currently ranked inside the top 25 of the NET — this is a contest they can’t afford to lose.Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington was pleased with the way his team played Wednesday, the end of a 10-day break that spanned final exams.”They had a business-like approach, but with great energy and focus,” Byington said.The Commodores rank 100th in KenPom.com’s adjusted defensive efficiency (100 spots higher than last year’s team) and use defense to create offense.Vanderbilt ranks second in the country in KenPom.com’s steal rate (15 percent of possessions) and 22nd in turnovers forced (16.1).Five Commodores average more than one steal per game: Tyler Tanner (2.5), Grant Huffman (1.6), AJ Hoggard (1.5), Chris Manon (1.5) and Jason Edwards (1.2).

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