Strange: No mirage: Vanderbilt leads East

Early Saturday afternoon, the SEC East men's basketball race boasted three perfect records.

Kentucky hadn't lost all year and was No. 1-in-waiting. Tennessee took a 3-0 league record to Georgia, where it always wins.

Only Vanderbilt was in jeopardy, trailing lowly Auburn by 16 points in Nashville.

But when the smoke cleared Wednesday night, what a different tale the standings told.

And then there was one. And the one is Vanderbilt. For now.

After an 85-76 win at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Commodores are 5-0 and looking down on everyone else in the volatile SEC East.

After getting upset at South Carolina on Tuesday night, No. 1 Kentucky is No. 2- or No. 3- in-waiting.

Tennessee's Cinderella ride since the Jan. 1 roster purge has run aground. The Vols lost at Georgia for the first time under Bruce Pearl and, now, at home to Vandy for the first time under Pearl.

"This league is gonna beat each other up a little bit,'' Pearl said. "It's going to be a battle. It's going to be a struggle.

"Which team will handle success? Which team will handle challenges?''

Handling success is Vandy's issue now.

The Commodores - who, by the way, rallied to beat Auburn by double figures on Saturday - are 5-0 to open SEC play for the first time since 1964-65.

Bonus points: They have three road wins among their five SEC successes.

The jubilation ringing loud and clear in the Vandy locker room Wednesday night was hard earned. But it better be short-lived.

"This league,'' said coach Kevin Stallings, "is so hard.

"Look what we have now.''

Uh, that would be a trip to Lexington on Saturday.

"My guess,'' said Stallings, "is they're a little bit angry.''

That's my guess, too. Kentucky's first week atop the college basketball rankings in seven years will end when the new poll comes out.

But Vanderbilt might be good enough to take on the Wildcats under any terms.

The Commodores are experienced, they're deep and they're more athletic and more physical than most Vandy teams of yore.

"We have a physical team,'' said Stallings after a 40-minute war that featured 46 fouls and 78 rebounds. "A year ago, we could be taken advantage of in a game like that.''

The fouls were evenly split, 23 each way. But they affected Tennessee more because of Pearl's depleted bench.

In the first 125 seconds of the second half, both Scotty Hopson and Kenny Hall picked up their third and fourth fouls.

"Vanderbilt does a good job of initiating contact,'' Pearl said.

Vanderbilt does a good job of several things, such as extending defense and knocking down tough shots.

And, not least of all, taking care of the basketball.

Jermaine Beal, the 'Dores' senior point guard, played 38 minutes with zero turnovers.

"That,'' said Stallings, "tells you just about all you need to know.''

If Vandy's issue is handling success, Tennessee's is handling adversity.

In the Vols' two losses, the defense has withered. Perimeter shooting is still scarce - don't look for J.P. Prince to knock down a couple of treys every night.

Stallings, who rarely goes out of his way to heap praise on his arch-rival, lauded Pearl's ability to keep Tennessee in contention despite the loss of All-SEC forward Tyler Smith and backup center Brian Williams.

"I told (Pearl) before the game, he's done a terrific job, under the circumstances they've had,'' Stallings said.

"But they're still a good team. I don't think many teams will come in here and win.''

Florida, which drilled Georgia on Wednesday night, is the next one to get a shot at it Sunday.

And when the smoke clears Sunday night after another weekend of combat, the standings might well look jumbled again.

But for a couple of days, anyhow, Vanderbilt is the team to catch. The game is afoot.

Mike Strange may be reached at strangem@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6276.