NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt’s plane touched down Tuesday in Albuquerque, N.M., as the men’s basketball team began to give its full attention to NCAA tournament opponent Harvard.
The question is whether Vanderbilt’s feet have ever touched down since experiencing the euphoria of a 71-64 upset of No. 1 Kentucky on Sunday in the SEC tournament final.
Coming back to earth after that kind of win can be a challenge. But the fifth-seeded Commodores know they can’t still be in celebration mode when a disciplined foe is seeking to make Vanderbilt an opening-game tournament upset victim for the fourth time in five years.
“We had a long talk about the need to do just that – the need to refocus our energy and refocus our minds,” coach Kevin Stallings said Tuesday. “We were off yesterday so we just got finished practicing this morning. They’ve had a good focus about them. They weren’t hung over from Sunday, I don’t think.”
Tipoff is at about 4:40 p.m. EDT Thursday in “The Pit” on New Mexico’s campus.