Commodores Rounding into Old Form as They Return to Bud Walton

Chance Hogs might feature two big returns in SEC home opener

When Arkansas and Vanderbilt take the baseball diamond, it has all the trappings of an epic heavyweight title fight.

When the two take to the basketball court, the feeling more resembles either school's football team hitting the field against Alabama.

Arkansas has won all but one match-up since the 2013-14 season, with the last four meetings coming at margins of 36, 20, 13 and 21. 

However, after several years of struggling, the Commodores appear to finally be on the verge of returning to form. They enter Bud Walton with an 8-4 record, including key wins over Pittsburgh and BYU.

They're also riding a three-game winning streak.

But it hasn't been an easy road.

Throughout the Kevin Stallings years, the Commodores were not only a massive thorn in the Razorbacks' sides, but regularly appeared in the NCAA tournament. 

Bryce Drew took over for Stallings in 2016-17, leading the team to a fifth place finish in the SEC and an NCAA tournament appearance, but without Stallings's steady hand, everything fell apart. A couple of years later, Vanderbilt was down to single digit wins. 

Enter college basketball legend Jerry Stackhouse who led the Commodores to double-digit wins the following year only to see COVID stunt the growth and minimal momentum the program had gained.

Vanderbilt Commodores guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (2) flies to the basket past Loyola Ramblers center Jacob Hutson (22) during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee :: George Walker IV/USA TODAY Sports

Despite this, a trio of sophomores, Scottie Pippen, Jr., Dylan Disu, and Jordan Wright, gave Commodore fans hope for a competitive return this season. 

Unfortunately, Disu got homesick, returning home to attend nearby Texas where his minutes and points have been cut in half.

Pippen isn't quite at the 20+ points per game margin he was last year, but he's still dangerous. He currently outpaces the Hogs' J.D. Notae for the league lead in scoring average with 18.1 points per game.

Wright chips in 13 points and six rebounds per game.

Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Jerry Stackhouse signals from the bench during the second half against the Alabama State Hornets at Memorial Gymnasium :: Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports

Despite leaning heavily on its power duo, Stackhouse has a steady 11-man rotation cycling through each game, which means support can come from anywhere. 

Forward Myles Stute leads the supporting cast with 8 points and three rebounds per game, but behind him are four more players tacking on 5-6 points each, plus an additional 15 rebounds.

"Their chemistry surrounding [Pippen] is really good," Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman said. "Coach Stackhouse has done a great job from a personnel standpoint of adding pieces."

Meanwhile, while Vanderbilt has built momentum heading into tonight's game, Arkansas is in a state of disarray.

Musselman has faced difficulty finding a line-up that can work game to game, which has led to problems over the past few weeks as the Razorbacks have lost three of their last four.

"As a coach, you want to walk into a locker room pregame and kinda know what you can pencil in both offensively and defensively," Musselman said. "Through our first 'X' amount of games, the consistency from player to player has not been there, which makes it difficult on our rotation. 

"It makes it difficult on teammates to know what you’re going to get from a nightly basis. That’s not any one particular player at all. That’s kinda been across the board with our roster."

Adding to the inconsistency was a round of COVID that passed through that kept Notae and Chance Moore out of the Mississippi State game.

Musselman said Notae returned to practice in a limited capacity this past Friday, but has struggled at times with breathing. He said Notae will get with trainers at game time to determine whether his ability to breathe and the number of reps he has been able to get during practice create a positive situation under which Notae can play. 

KAMANI JOHNSON / Andy Hodges

Another wrinkle in developing team chemistry as of late is the suspension of Kamani Johnson just as the junior forward was finally getting his feet under him.

"Kamani could be back with us," Musselman said Monday. "He’s on a day-by-day situation. I’ll leave it at that. He has practiced the last day or so."

As for Vanderbilt, Musselman pointed to the issues Pippen creates with his ability to draw fouls and convert in transition, stressing the need for the Arkansas defense to increase its discipline to avoid foul trouble.

Musselman said he has been able to amp up the intensity and length of practices, but indicated this may not mean fans will see improvement. 

"With this particular group, preparation has not necessarily helped us," Musselman said. "So once we get past this game and start getting into more of a rhythm, maybe that will help this group."

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