College Basketball

No. 11 Vanderbilt Tops New Haven; Dores Coach Mark Byington Sets New Record

Updated Dec. 29, 2025 9:19 p.m. ET

No. 11 Vanderbilt took care of business against New Haven in Nashville on Monday night, defeating the Chargers by 40-plus points, 96-53.

Dores coach Mark Byington made some history with the win, too.

Heading into Monday's game, Byington had the best record (37-1) among all D-I coaches in games played heading into the New Year (minimum 10 games coached) since the 2023-24 season, per FOX Sports Research.

After Monday's win, Byington's record is now 38-1 — with a 97.4% win rate; even if every coach below him wins, none of them would have a win percentage higher than 92% over the past three seasons.

Byington took over at Vanderbilt in 2024 after spending the four years prior at James Madison. Dating back to Byington's first season at JMU (2020), he's 60-10 in games played in October through December, which is the fourth-best record in that span among all D-I coaches (minimum 30 games coached).

Dating back to his second season at JMU (2021), he's 57-7 in games played in October through December, which is tied for the third-best record in that span among all D-I coaches (minimum 25 games coached).

Commodores star guard Tyler Tanner scored the first five points of the game and finished with 23. Jalen Washington added 21 points off the bench. Devin McGlockton had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Tyler Harris scored 16.

Tanner opened the scoring with a dunk, then a 3-pointer. Vandy led by double digits within the first four minutes. The Dores led by as much as 45-21 on a pair of Harris free throws with 2:59 to go before taking a 47-27 lead into halftime.

Vandy dominated the start of the second half, outscoring the Chargers 20-5 and leading by as many as 46 in the final few minutes. The Dores improved to 9-0 when shooting at least 50% after going 37 of 64 (57.8%) against New Haven.

Vandy came into Monday's nonconference finale the SEC's only undefeated team and one of only six still unbeaten across the league. With the win, the Commodores improved to 13-0 for the second time in program history and the first since the 2007-08 season, when Vanderbilt won its first 16 games.

Vanderbilt visits South Carolina on Saturday to open SEC play (2 p.m. ET).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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