Vanderbilt's Saben Lee has best game since Darius Garland injury in win vs Tennessee State

Saben Lee replaced the player who replaced him.

That can’t be easy, especially because Lee was already pretty good at playing point guard for Vanderbilt last season. But five-star freshman Darius Garland was a very rare talent, so Lee moved to shooting guard to start his sophomore season.

Then came Garland’s season-ending knee injury and Lee’s return to point guard, a position he had coveted and then gladly forfeited for the chance at a magical season.

But Lee seems to be getting the hang of his new — make that old — position. He had his best game of the season Saturday, scoring 23 points and running the offense efficiently in Vanderbilt’s 95-76 win over Tennessee State.

“You need to know when to attack and when to pass, how to get teammates involved and pace,” Lee said when asked about his larger role as a point guard. “There is a lot that goes into running the team.”

Lee played ‘downhill’ in his best game of season

Lee was almost perfect. He made 8 of 9 from the field and 7 of 9 from the foul line, added four rebounds, three assists and one steal, and did not commit a turnover until late in the game. By then, the Commodores had already sealed the outcome to improve to 8-3.

TSU guard Armani Chaney described Lee’s style as “downhill” and “into the teeth” of the defense, referencing the hard drives and dunks that he finished over Tiger defenders.

That aggressive element has sometimes been missing in Lee’s seven games since Garland’s injury. But he’s beginning to re-tool his approach.

“(Lee) is really trying to balance the scoring and the passing, and he’s getting better at it,” coach Bryce Drew said. “He had a lot more scoring opportunities with (TSU’s defense) pressuring out and extending onto the floor.

“The last game we played (69-58 loss to Kansas State), it was the exact opposite. They packed it in, and he had to pass it more.”

Lee was catalyst in run that put TSU away

All that Lee can do was summed up during a 1:19 stretch late in the first half when Vanderbilt took control for good. He made two free throws, jammed a hard one-handed dunk over a TSU defender, pulled down an offensive rebound to set up Matthew Moyer’s 3-pointer and snagged a steal to push the ball ahead for Maxwell Evans’ layup.

Lee uncharacteristically posed after his thunderous dunk, showing the swagger of a player settling into his role. But teammate Joe Toye said such a dynamic dunk is common for Lee, regardless of his position.

“He does that all the time, but that was probably his best one,” said Toye, who tied his career high with 18 points and four 3-pointers.

Lee’s spurt was the better part of a 16-1 run that put Vanderbilt ahead 40-35 after a slow start. The Commodores extended that lead to 23 in the second half.

Penny Collins hopes Vanderbilt will play at TSU

Chaney and Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey led TSU with 16 points each. The Tigers jumped out to a 17-7 lead, but their momentum fizzled from there.

TSU (3-9) has endured a tough seven-game stretch, suffering road losses to Kentucky, Memphis, Vanderbilt and others. This game drew a crowd of 9,505 at Memorial Gym.

“I thought this was a really good crowd, and I want to see us to continue to play teams like Vanderbilt and other in-state games like Memphis,” first-year TSU coach Penny Collins said. “We’d also like to see some of those teams come play at Tennessee State.”

Vanderbilt improved to 10-0 in the all-time series, but it has never played at TSU’s Gentry Center.

Reach Adam Sparks at [email protected] and on Twitter @AdamSparks.