Can Vanderbilt Commodores Overcome This Glaring Weakness During SEC Play?
The Vanderbilt Commodores have turned heads as a surprising contender in the 2024-25 men's college basketball season.
In the first year under head coach Mark Byington, the team has already surpassed the win total that previous head coach Jerry Stackhouse was able to lead the team to in three out of five campaigns on the sidelines.
A high-powered offense has been the key to the Commodores' success, as they are averaging 86.5 points per game, which is 14th in the nation. They are overwhelming opponents inside the arc, making 60.4% of their 2-point attempts, which is No. 8 in the country.
That has helped offset their struggles from beyond the arc, where they rank 200th with an underwhelming 33.5%. Vanderbilt is even worse defensively, ranking 229th in 3-point percentage allowed.
Their performance at the 3-point line on both ends of the court is something to keep an eye on as they prepare for SEC play.
Arguably the largest obstacle they will have to overcome is on the interior with their rebounding.
The Commodores aren’t a very big team, with their tallest player being listed at 6’9”. 6’7” Devin McGlockton is the lone big man in the starting lineup and Jaylen Carey, who is 6’8”, comes off the bench to relieve him.
The two of them combine for 14 out of the team’s 37.1 rebounds per game, as no one else averages even four rebounds per contest.
That is an area Byington’s squad needs to improve upon during conference play otherwise they are going to be bludgeoned by some of the best rebounding teams in men’s college basketball.
The Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the nation in rebounds per game, pulling down 45.7 and 45.1 per game. The Texas A&M Aggies and Kentucky Wildcats are No. 8 and No. 9 with 42.9 and 42.3 per game.
The LSU Tigers, their first SEC opponent, is No. 17 with 41.7.
Raw rebounding statistics like that can sometimes be misleading, as an uptempo team is taking more shots and creating more chances to rebound the basketball.
All but one SEC team, the Ole Miss Rebels, have a positive rebounding differential on the year. The Commodores are 13th out of 16 teams in the conference at +3.0.
Three of the teams, the Gators, Aggies and Georgia Bulldogs, have differentials in the double-digits. The Tennessee Volunteers aren’t far off with a +9.5 differential on the boards.
Vanderbilt is going to have to keep up the efficiency on the offensive end to help offset their lack of success on the glass. If they go into a cold spell, they don’t have the personnel to consistently create second-change opportunities, which could lead to some struggles against the dominant rebounding teams in the SEC.
