NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Saturday’s victory, from the outside looking in, was perhaps the most unexpected of the season for Vanderbilt.
A three-game losing streak coming in. No Dylan Disu. No Scotty Pippen. An opponent desperate to keep NCAA Tournament at-large bid hopes alive.
None of that allowed Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse to change his message to the Commodores before tipoff at Memorial Gymnasium.
“We have enough,” he told the SEC Network after the win. “That was the message last game as well, that we had enough. Our guys are competing, they know how to play.”
Vandy had five players in double figures and led the final 11:33 of regulation in a 75-70 win over Ole Miss. The victory matched the team’s league win total from last season in four fewer tries as the program continues to build for the future.
It was also a triumph which helped give confidence to a roster missing its top rebounder (Disu) and top scorer and assist man (Pippen) for the second game in a row.
“Confidence comes from your work, the work that you do for your skill set. Confidence comes from being prepared, understanding what they’re going to do,” Stackhouse said. “And then confidence comes from actually getting some wins. I think we lacked a little bit of confidence there when we got to end of games.
“Even though we might have gotten the shots that we wanted and we executed pretty good, the other team stepped up and made plays. (Saturday) we stepped up and made plays.”
Vanderbilt (7-13, 3-11 SEC) rode the emotion and enthusiasm provided early by the four seniors who started Saturday’s contest – Isaiah Rice, Ejike Obinna, Clevon Brown and Maxwell Evans. But when the game settled in it appeared the Rebels had taken control by opening a 27-20 lead with 4:36 to play in the half.
One minute and 16 seconds later the Dores exploded for nine straight points in less than 90 seconds. That helped them take a 34-32 lead at the break and knock Ole Miss back on its heels.
“Just thought it was a great team effort from everyone,” Stackhouse said. “We had five guys in double figures. Being down (Pippen) and (Disu), obviously a huge part of who we are, I thought our guys really stepped up and played together on both ends of court.”
Vanderbilt trailed only once in the second half (39-38 with 17:16 to go) and recovered from a 7-0 Rebels run that tied the score at 48-all with 12 minutes left. In the end the Commodores totaled 11 made 3s, dished out 16 assists on 26 made field goals and got 39 points off the bench.
Eight different Vandy players scored and it was Brown sinking the game’s final three free throws to preserve the win.
“It just tells everyone keep on working every day and keep getting better and the results will show,” said Evans who finished with 13 points. “It shows that the work we put in, it shows us that we have a bright future.”
Vanderbilt has two scheduled games next week to end the regular season, tough road tests first at LSU at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday followed by a rematch at Ole Miss at 6 p.m. Saturday. Those are two more opportunities for the Commodores to build momentum toward the SEC Tournament starting March 10 at Bridgestone Arena.
They shouldn’t be short on confidence when presented with those opportunities.
“I think this is a high confidence-builder for us to finish up strong and really carry some momentum into the SEC Tournament,” Stackhouse said. “We know we can beat any of these teams. Anybody that we play, we step up we can beat no matter who we got because I think we play a style where we try to defend first and then we want to share the basketball.
“Does it always work out perfectly? No. But I think our guys are trying to learn how to play the right way and (Saturday) we did a really good job of it.”
Pippen Could Return Soon
While Disu had season-ending knee surgery last week, Pippen could return to the lineup as early as Tuesday, Stackhouse said.
A minor hip injury sidelined the sophomore point guard for games against No. 25 Tennessee and Ole Miss, respectively, last week.
“He’s feeling better. Hopefully he’s back by the LSU game, but if not I definitely think he’ll be back by Saturday,” Stackhouse said. “He said he’s feeling better. The MRI didn’t show any structural damage, just a bruise that needed to heal to where he feels comfortable to go out there and be himself.”
Pippen ranks second in the SEC in assists per game (5.2) and scoring (20.5) and is third in free throws made (106).
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.