Dick Vitale reacts to Vanderbilt delivering first upset of SEC Tournament

Thursday night, Vanderbilt pulled off the stunner of the SEC Tournament by defeating Alabama. Afterward, ESPN analyst Dick Vitale took to Twitter to share his reaction to the game.

Vitale shouted out Commodores coach Jerry Stackhouse after his team knocked off the Crimson Tide 82-76 in the second round of the SEC Tournament. That’s when Vitale opened Twitter to congratulate Vanderbilt for moving on.

“What a fantastic job @jerrystackhouse has done @VandyMBB as they advance in @SEC tourney with victory vs @AlabamaMBB 82-76,” Vitale tweeted. “This has been one of the toughest jobs in the power conferences. He has impressed the VBDI (vitale bald dome index).”

With the win, Vanderbilt advanced to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals to take on No. 3 seed Kentucky. That game tips off Friday at 8 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

Vanderbilt upsets Alabama in SEC Tournament, advances to quarterfinals

No. 11 seed Vanderbilt erased a 10-point halftime deficit, completely owning No. 6 seed Alabama during the final 20-minute stretch to take home an 82-76 upset victory Thursday night. They’ll move on to the quarterfinals to take on No. 3 seed Kentucky Friday night.

“Coach [Jerry] Stackhouse came into the locker room and said ‘this is it, you know. Either we go home or play tomorrow, so it was fuel to the fire,” Scotty Pippen Jr. said during his postgame interview.

It was a 14-2 run that closed the distance midway through the second half for the Commodores thanks to a litany of turnovers. A breakaway dunk from Pippen with under half a minute left in regulation gave Vandy their largest lead of the night at seven, sealing the Crimson Tide’s fate and sending them home from Tampa earlier than expected.

Pippen finished the game with 26 points despite a 5-19 shooting night, but logged 7 assists to make up for his low-percentage shooting night, and 18 turnovers from the Crimson Tide aided Vanderbilt in their victory. Alabama will now wait to hear their fate come Selection Sunday, while the Commodores look to make a Cinderella run into the semifinals with a win Friday night.

With a third matchup against Kentucky this season Friday night, Pippen had some early thoughts on his game plan against the ‘Cats.

“Just keep doing what we’re doing and get the win,” he said.

The last time these two squads matched up was in Lexington where the Wildcats won 77-70. The Commodores out-rebounded Kentucky 37-30 despite the loss, which is impressive given Kentucky is one of the top rebounding teams in the NCAA this season.