Vanderbilt Commodores Face Troubling Offensive Trends Early in SEC Play
The Vanderbilt Commodores men’s basketball team got off to a scorching hot start in the Mark Byington era.
During non-conference play, they went 12-1 with their only defeat coming at the hands of the Drake Bulldogs.
While their schedule wasn’t very daunting, picking up 12 victories was an impressive feat for a team that had recorded 11 or fewer victories in three out of their five seasons under their last head coach, Jerry Stackhouse.
Leading to a lot of the team’s success out of conference was an incredibly explosive offense, as they averaged 86.5 points per game and made an eye-popping 60.4% of their 2-point attempts.
That efficiency inside the arc more than made up for their struggles from 3-point range as they overwhelmed opponents on the interior despite not having the tallest or biggest lineup.
Entering SEC play, the Commodores knew they would have to overcome that. Facing off against much stronger competition, they would have to rely heavily on their strengths to find success.
In their opener against the LSU Tigers on the road, they scored 80 points with veteran guard A.J. Hoggard leading the way with some late-game heroics. But, that game was the beginning of a troubling trend that was accentuated in their two losses.
The explosive Vanderbilt offense has been held in check as their efficiency has waned.
Against LSU, they shot only 52.6% on 2-pointers and 30.8% on 3s. Fortunately, they were able to pick up the win; against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Missouri Tigers, but the lack of offensive production ultimately cost them.
In the home opener against the Bulldogs, the Commodores scored a season-low 64 points. It was the first time all campaign they failed to score at least 70 points in a matchup, as they got nothing going on the offensive side.
Mississippi State held them to 35.5% overall; 19.2% from 3-point range and 47.2% inside the arc.
Against Missouri, the team was hot from 3-point range, knocking down 44.4% of their attempts but were uncharacteristically ice-cold on 2-pointers. Their 38.2% made on those attempts was a season-low mark.
Those are not good shooting numbers and unfortunately could hint at what will be a reality check and more struggles in the future.
The Bulldogs are currently No. 11 in opponents points per game allowed. Missouri is No. 12 and LSU is No. 13. They are Nos. 12, 11 and 5 in field goal percentage allowed out of 16 teams in the league.
If Vanderbilt struggled against lower-echelon defensive teams in the SEC, it is going to be incredibly tough sledding when facing off against the best teams in the league.
