Vanderbilt 66, Texas A&M 41: Bryce Drew does have a reputation as a defensive whiz

Jim Brown-USA TODAY SportsBryce Drew’s last team at Valparaiso ranked 8th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. We knew going in that the man could coach a defense, so watching Vanderbilt get absolutely torched on the defensive end for much of December and January was pretty jarring.

But for the past month, Vanderbilt’s finally started to figure it out on that end of the floor. Vanderbilt has now held six of its last seven opponents under a point per possession, and the coup de grace came on Thursday night in the SEC Tournament, when the Aggies scored just 0.71 points per possession. That was both Vanderbilt’s best defensive performance and Texas A&M’s worst offensive performance of…