All that stood between Vanderbilt and an embarrassing exhibition loss was James Siakam.

And that was more than enough.



Siakam scored more points (22) and grabbed more rebounds (19) tonight versus St. Xavier of Chicago than he had for his entire career in total. Siakam, a redshirt sophomore from Camaroon, was unstoppable, unblockable, and basically did the unthinkable.

"I didn't think he'd get 22 points and 17 rebounds," said Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings. "Those are Wilt Chamberlain numbers."

For all the excitement surrounding the amazing play of Siakam, virtually everything else this fantastically young and inexperienced Commodore team did they did poorly. They had 19 turnovers -- 11 by guards -- and shot a dismal 2-of-20 from 3.

And until the very end, it appeared St. Xavier, an NCAA Division II foe, might pull off the upset.

VU did just barely enough to stave off what would have been an unthinkable loss. Still, there was no escaping the fact that this Commodore team has a very long way to go to be competitive in SEC play.

"Defensively, we had lapses. Offensively, we had turnovers," said Stallings. "It's November 2nd, although it feels like it's October 15th."


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