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No. 15 Vanderbilt on rebound against Auburn after surprising loss

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NCAA Basketball: Oklahoma at VanderbiltFeb 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Tanner (3) and Oklahoma Sooners guard Dayton Forsythe (7) fight for the loose ball during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Searching for a bounce-back performance, No. 15 Vanderbilt will look for its first victory at Auburn in a decade when the Southeastern Conference opponents meet on Tuesday.

Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4 SEC) had its three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday by lowly Oklahoma, which had lost its last nine games. The Commodores never led in the surprising home loss and trailed by 15 with 2:20 left before rallying in a 92-91 setback.

Vanderbilt still is off to its best 23-game start since 2007-08 (also 19-4 before reaching 24-4), but head coach Mark Byington knows his team can’t afford a slide in conference play.

“In this high level of sports, you get what you deserve, and we did not play well,” Byington said. “We obviously didn’t play well, and we weren’t ready to play. … We’ve got to go back and figure it out and learn from it and we’ve got to fix some things. We can’t ever do this again.”

The Commodores, who haven’t won at Auburn since Feb. 13, 2016, are led by breakout sophomore Tyler Tanner. After averaging 5.7 points per game in a reserve role as a freshman, Tanner ranks fifth in the SEC with 18.6 points per game.

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Tanner has shouldered the load of Vanderbilt’s injured backcourt, as second-leading scorer Duke Miles (16.6 ppg) has missed the last three games with a knee injury and Frankie Collins (7.8 points, 4.7 assists per contest) hasn’t played since Dec. 17 as he also deals with an injured knee.

“I’m just proud of his resiliency,” Byington said of Tanner, who poured in a career-high 37 points against Oklahoma, 15 in the final two minutes. “He was fighting and playing as hard as he could, and he almost got us back into it.”

Byington noted that Miles and Collins don’t have timetables for returns, but they could be back before the end of the regular season.

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Auburn (14-9, 5-5), meanwhile, is out to avoid its first set of consecutive home losses since February 2021. A year removed from their second Final Four appearance in program history, the Tigers are 11th in the SEC standings with a month remaining in the regular season.

First-year head coach Steven Pearl’s team held a 10-point first-half lead against rival Alabama on Saturday, before allowing 59 points after halftime in a 96-92 home loss. Auburn won’t have much time to lick its wounds with another Quad 1 opportunity around the corner.

“You’ve got to have a short memory because you’ve got such a quick turnaround on Tuesday against another really good offensive team,” Pearl said. “Vanderbilt runs a ton of offensive sets, so it’s going to be really hard to break that down to show the guys. I’ve got to do a good job of really identifying areas that we got exposed.”

Vanderbilt ranks 12th in the nation with 88.9 points per game, while Auburn allows 78.4 ppg — third most in the SEC.

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Hoping to steer the Tigers away from the NCAA Tournament bubble has been Keyshawn Hall, who ranks second in the conference at 21 points per game. Playing on his fourth team in four years, Hall is averaging 23.8 points across the last five outings.

–Field Level Media

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‘Real Housewives’ alum Jill Zarin criticizes Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance 

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9 minutes ago

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9 February 2026

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Real Housewives alum Jill Zarin has criticized Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show performance. The Puerto Rican rapper created history as he became the first Latin artist to perform solo at the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Speaking on Instagram after Bunny’s performance, Jill Zarin expressed her dissatisfaction with the halftime show. He said:

“Now, we all agree. I said it before that, it was the worst halftime show ever, and it’s 250 years that we’re celebrating right now in the United States, and I just don’t think it was appropriate to have it in Spanish. And quite frankly, I didn’t see him grabbing his you know, G area. I think it was totally inappropriate. You’ve got all these young kids watching the Super Bowl, and he doesn’t have to be grabbing himself every five seconds. Is he so insecure?”

Zarin added:

“Seriously, I didn’t understand. I don’t speak Spanish. I would have liked to have known the words he was saying to me. It looked like a political statement, because there were literally no white people in the entire thing. I think it was a political statement, and I’m not taking a side one way the other. I just do.”

Zarin also alleged that Bad Bunny’s performance was an “ICE thing” and criticized Lady Gaga, who made a special appearance during the halftime show. She added:

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“I think it was an ICE thing. And I just think that the NFL sold out. And it’s very sad, because 75 years and, you know, shame, shame. And Lady Gaga got a facelift. I didn’t recognize her. I literally had to google her face to Google her face to see who it was, because we all couldn’t agree who it was. So that was kind of fun in the middle of halftime, at least it gave me something to do, because it was so hard to watch.”

Despite the controversial response, Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl halftime show has garnered over 135 million views. The rapper created history as he delivered the halftime show in complete Spanish. In the end, the performance also delivered a message about the only thing being stronger than “hate” is “love”, allegedly interpreted as a message against ICE and Trump’s immigration policy.

Former Real Housewives star Taylor Armstrong opens up on Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show

Super Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks - Source: GettySuper Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks - Source: Getty
Super Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks – Source: Getty

In an Instagram story dated February 8, Taylor Armstrong also criticized Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show, since it was completely in Spanish and featured a Cuban flag. She wrote:

“Were you entertained? I am embarrassed for the NFL and Apple for the Super Bowl halftime show totally in Spanish with a Cuban flag!!”

Apart from the Real Housewives and multiple other celebrities, President Donald Trump also expressed his dissatisfaction about the Super Bowl Halftime show. He described Bunny’s dancing as “disgusting” and called the performance “absolutely terrible” and “one of the worst, EVER.”

Apart from Bad Bunny’s headlining show, many other artists also made guest appearances during the performance. There was a set including Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, and Alix Earle. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed a salsa version of their hit track, Die With A Smile. Ricky Martin also took the stage to perform Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii.

Earlier this month, Bad Bunny also became the first Latin artist to win the Album of the Year at the Grammys. His album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, became the first Spanish-language album to win the honor.

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