NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, Vanderbilt returns home for a two-game homestand which starts at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The Commodores (9-17, 1-12 SEC) have remained steadfast in their confidence that a breakthrough is on the horizon during a season of injuries and adversity. Five of the team’s 12 league losses have been by an average of 6.6 points.
One of close setbacks came Tuesday in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Vandy fell 65-61. The Dores ran out of steam late and were down 13 with 2:30 left before a 13-2 run cut it 63-61 with six seconds to go.
Two Jordan Bowden free throws after that put the game on ice.
“I still think our magic number is somewhere around 11 or 12. With that the amount of 3s that we take, if we can make that number around there, we’re going to be in pretty good shape,” Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “Last game we made eight – you add two more to that and it’s probably a win for us.”
Thus, the key for Vanderbilt moving forward is simply stated – it needs to shoot better. The Dores are winless this season when scoring fewer than 70 points and when shooting less than 40 percent from the field.
In nine wins this season, however, Vandy is averaging 85.7 points. Of course, some of the drop-off in scoring is related to three Commodores – Aaron Nesmith (foot), Clevon Brown (knee) and Matthew Moyer (shoulder) – all missing multiple games due to injury.
Vanderbilt has shown it has individual scorers with Saben Lee (33), Maxwell Evans (31), Scotty Pippen (21), Jordan Wright (23) and Dylan Disu (21) all setting career highs this season. Now it has to show it can put all those big numbers together on a single night.
“We got to mix it up. When it’s not going well we got guys that guys that can put it on the floor and get them into the post and get a little closer,” Stackhouse said. “I’m happy with execution. We’re getting the looks at that we want. I feel like it’s going to turn. We normally have someone have a good game then another night someone else has a good game – we got to try to do that collectively, have a couple guys have a couple big nights.”
Georgia (13-13, 3-10) has had its struggles in 2019-20 as well, but it snapped a four-game losing streak Wednesday with a 65-55 upset win of No. 13 Auburn. The Bulldogs also have one of the league’s top players in freshman forward Anthony Edwards who is averaging 18.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
With five games left to play in the regular season, Georgia is two games ahead of Vanderbilt in the SEC standings.
“Every game is really important for us,” Wright said. “We really haven’t talked about it from a standings standpoint. Every game is a must-win game for us. Just going out there with that mindset that we have to win.”
PERRY WALLACE WAY
Earlier this week, Vanderbilt and the City of Nashville renamed a portion of 25th Avenue cutting through campus outside of Memorial Gymnasium after civil rights trailblazer Perry Wallace.
Wallace was one of the first two African-American student-athletes to play for the Commodores starting in the 1966 season.
“I’m looking forward to celebrating him this weekend and being able to take part in the festivities,” Stackhouse said. “It’s a huge honor for all of us. That’s a trailblazer, one of the guys that has paved the path for us to come and play and coach here at Vanderbilt.”
Stackhouse and his team met with Vanderbilt special projects coordinator Andrew Maraniss during the week to learn more of Wallace’s story. A public ceremony to honor Wallace and his family is scheduled for 3 p.m. on the newly-named Perry Wallace Way outside of Memorial Gym.
• Lee (1,193) needs one point to pass Joe Ford (1,193) for 35th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list. Jim Henry (1,198) is 34th and Al Rochelle (1,206) is 33rd.
• Lee has scored at least 18 points in five straight games and in seven of the last nine.
• Lee ranks 46th nationally with 156 free throws attempts and 47th with 118 free throws made.
• As a team, the Commodores rank 46th nationally in free throw attempts, 63rd in 3-point attempts per game, 66th in free throws made and 82nd in total 3s made.
• Vanderbilt leads the series with Georgia 92-53 and 49-12 at Vanderbilt.
• The Commodores are 1-11 this season when trailing at halftime, 1-15 when trailing with five minutes to play and 0-16 when trailing at the 2-minute mark.
Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.
