EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The saying goes, "Leave it on the floor." In their last game in black and gold, seniors Derrick Byars, Dan Cage and Ted Skuchas did just that.
Byars scored 17 points while dishing out five assists. Cage also scored 17 to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Skuchas played solid defense and made his only field goal attempt.
Just as Byars could be heard yelling, "We ain't going home" after the Commodores double-overtime victory over Washington State, none of these three wanted to go home Friday night.
"All three of them, even at the end here, were playing the best basketball of their lives," said coach Kevin Stallings. "I'm going to miss them greatly, and I've never been prouder of a group of seniors than I am of those three guys."
Whether it was Byars luring Roy Hibbert into fouling him on a 3-point shot or Cage knocking down two free throws to give the Commodores a 65-64 lead with 17.9 seconds remaining, these seniors made savvy plays.
"I thought when Dan - I mean, how courageous was it for Dan Cage to step up to the foul line with 14 seconds to play being behind one and making two free throws," Stallings said. "If we had won the game, that would be a big deal right now. That takes an incredible amount of courage to step up and do that, and he did it like it was water off a duck's back."
It's that kind of leadership that Vanderbilt's team and fans had become accustomed to this season. While the 2005-06 Commodores lost several close games, this year's version learned to seal them. Eight of Vanderbilt's wins came by five points or less, not to mention a gritty nine-point overtime win at South Carolina.
So when Vanderbilt dropped a close decision after pulling them out on various occasions, the feeling was somewhat unfamiliar.
"Four minutes, if the game's within five points either way, our team kind of looks at each other, and you can call it arrogance, but we think we've got the game won," Cage said.
It's been well-documented that the team did not start the season playing as well as when it ended. Without question, the three seniors sparked the turnaround.
"I guess we take with us that we were able to exceed a lot of expectations that other people had of us," Byars said.
"We were able to battle adversity and come out with a lot of success."
Now it's up to Shan Foster, Alex Gordon, Alan Metcalfe and Ross Neltner to pick up where these seniors left off. While matching the chemistry of this year's team won't be easy, the past six months should have prepared them for the challenge.
"I hope they learned to do it right from those seniors because they showed them how to do it right," Stallings said. "They showed them how to lead. They showed them how to follow. They showed them how to compete on an everyday basis. If we take those lessons and continue to apply them, which I know we will, then this should give us a good shot in the arm, a good momentum as we head into next season."
