NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It’s been a little less than 10 years since Vanderbilt knocked off a team ranked inside the top five. The Commodores have their second chance this season to erase that anniversary date as it faces No. 2 Auburn at 8 p.m. Wednesday inside Auburn Arena.
“This is a great opportunity for us,” Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “We feel like we’ve gone into some places no other team has won in the SEC – went down to Arkansas and got it done (Jan. 4). Nobody has beat them since down there. We feel like our defense travels. If we’re able to take care of the ball and rebound the basketball – those are things that gets us in trouble in our losses.
“We like our chances when we’re able to get back and get our defense set and able to lock into a team’s gameplan with our schemes and different things like that.”
Stackhouse, however, said he doesn’t feel like his team was able to execute those type of defensive assets Saturday in Knoxville where it lost 73-64 to No. 19 Tennessee. The Volunteers had 13 second-chance points and 10 points off turnovers in the first half and, early in the second half, built a 16-point lead.
The Commodores (13-11, 5-7 SEC) clawed back to within 52-51 with 11 1/2 minutes to go, but were then outscored 21-11 down the stretch.
That defeat broke a modest two-game winning streak for Vandy, a streak which had given it some hope that it could finish inside the top half of the league standings – or at the very least inside the top 10 to avoid a first-round game at the SEC Tournament in March. Now, with six games left to go in the regular season, Vandy is just 1/2-game ahead of 11th-place Missouri.
“It’s always about the next game,” Vandy junior Scotty Pippen Jr. said Saturday. “There’s nothing we can do about (the Tennessee) game now, just watch the film and see what we did wrong. Everyone in the locker room is disappointed. We had some momentum going in so everyone thought we would do better than we did.
“We still fought, but now it’s on to the next game.”
No. 2 Auburn (23-2, 11-1 SEC) is one of five teams in the nation with two or fewer losses. It has won 15 straight at home (13-0 there this season) and ranks among the nation’s top 15 in rebounds per game, blocked shots, scoring margin, offensive rebounds per game and shooting defense.
Sophomore Walker Kessler is the nation’s leader in blocked shots per game. The 7-foot-1 center is one of four Tigers averaging double figures in scoring and he recorded a triple-double Saturday in a win over Texas A&M.
Vanderbilt last played at Auburn in 2020 – Stackhouse’s first game as The Dores’ head coach against an SEC opponent.
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Vanderbilt’s five league wins is its most since winning six during the 2018-19 season.
- A victory Wednesday would give the Commodores five road wins for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
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Vandy ranks 26th nationally in free throw attempts (516) and 28th in 3-point field goal defense (29.7).
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Pippen Jr. (1,295) needs 16 points to pass Barry Booker (1,310) for 27th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list.
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Pippen leads the SEC in scoring at 18.9 points per game, is third nationally in free throw attempts (177) and 10th nationally in free throws made (127).
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Jordan Wright has now started 38 straight games for Vanderbilt.
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Trey Thomas has now played in 49 straight games for the Commodores.
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Vanderbilt is 10-2 this season when leading at halftime, 8-0 when scoring at least 75 points and 12-3 when shooting at least 40 percent from the field.
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The Commodores are 89-55 all-time against Auburn and 37-31 as the visiting team.
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Vanderbilt is on a four-game losing streak against Auburn having last won 80-61 in 2017. The Dores were last victorious in Auburn on Feb. 13, 2016.s
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Vanderbilt is 17-70 against opponents ranked in the top five with the last victory coming March 11, 2012 against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament championship.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
