Basketball Opponent Previews: Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt looks to start the season strong after nearly making the tournament last year

Last year, there might not have been a better team over the final month of SEC play than Vanderbilt. The Commodores won 10 out of 12 from February 4th to March 11th with the only losses coming at LSU and in the semis of the SEC Tournament against Texas A&M.

To be real, Vanderbilt makes the NCAA Tournament last year if they don't start the season 5-6. Every year we seem to get a team that if not for the first 10 or so games (sometimes even less), would make the NCAA Tournament. Dayton was that team in 2022 and Vanderbilt was that team in 2023. The Dores took losses to Southern Miss and Grambling State in non-conference and the loss to LSU wasn't great either. This year, with some important returning pieces, the Dores are looking to get to the dance for the first time under Jerry Stackhouse.

If Vanderbilt does get to the tournament, it will be in large part because of Tyrin Lawrence and Ezra Manjon. Lawrence entered the portal, but opted to return to Nashville after a breakout season where he averaged 13 points per game. He shot the ball at an extremely high clip, being nationally ranked in both effective field goal % and true shooting %. Manjon was more of a secondary option to Lawrence, but was also a large part in Vanderbilt getting hot down the stretch. Manjon's best game of the season came in the SEC Quarterfinals where he went for 25 in an arena decked out in Kentucky blue.

What is encouraging about Vanderbilt is they have a lot of sophomores that could take leaps. Watch out for Colin Smith who shot 37.6% from three last year in a limited role. Notre Dame transfer Ven-Allen Lubin will also play an important role as the team's best rebounder despite being only 6'8.

There's a chance that Jerry Stackhouse has a very thin bench if the development isn't where it needs to be, but having that security blanket in Lawrence and Manjon will be really important. Stackhouse has a great offensive system and he has two veteran guards that know how to run it. That could go a long way when the Dores go on the road in the SEC.

How Tennessee matches up

Vanderbilt will obviously be a team that Tennessee is better than, but as many recall, the Dores stunned the Vols at the buzzer last year on a corner 3 by Tyrin Lawrence. While Vanderbilt isn't the greatest 3-point shooting team, they do a really nice job of taking care of the basketball. The 8 turnovers Vanderbilt had in Memorial Gymnasium against Tennessee last year was well below the Vols season average of 14.7.

This year, the two teams meet again twice. The game at Vanderbilt will be on January 27th while the Vols will host on February 17th. With the losses of Jordan Wright and Myles Stute, I don't think 3-point shooting will be the answer to beating the Vols for Jerry Stackhouse's squad, but if Lawrence and Manjon can take care of the ball again, I could see Vandy winning the game in Nashville. Winning at Thompson-Boling is a whole different story, but if these two teams split again, don't be shocked.

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