Tonight, Vanderbilt lost their fourth straight in a 63-62 nailbiter to Western Carolina. In year five of the Jerry Stackhouse era, his group has lost six of their last seven and has now suffered losses to three mid-major opponents. Here are three quick takes after yet another disappointing showing at Memorial Gym.

1. The poor attendance sent a strong message

Tonight’s attendance was easily the worst I’ve ever seen inside Memorial Gym. Yes, the students are out of town for winter break, but that’s no excuse. There are plenty of examples across the SEC of students still showing up despite being on break. The majority of Vandy’s student body lives in other states, but that’s beside the point. The everyday fans that typically show up to West End for basketball games are no longer attending games inside a historic gymnasium. This gym used to be feared by every single opponent that made the trip, but now, this gym is a shell of itself due to the on-court product in year five of the Jerry Stackhouse era. I would guess there were around 1,200 fans in attendance. As the Stackhouse era has progressed, the crowds have gotten worse and worse. As poor of a showing from the home “team,” there was tonight, the home “crowd” represented a bigger issue surrounding this program.

2. Western Carolina took advantage of Vandy’s poor shooting

An experienced Western Carolina team took advantage of what Vandy gave them all night. The most impactful aspect provided by the Commodores was their poor shooting. At halftime, Vandy was shooting 33% from the field and 0% from three-point range (0-5). Shooting 0% from three-point range is unacceptable for any team, much less an SEC team like Vandy who’s used to producing great shooting teams. Meanwhile, the Catamounts finished the first half shooting 37% from the field and a ridiculous 43% from long range. In the second half, Vandy slightly improved that number. As the game hit double zeros, the Commodores finished shooting 34% from the field and 7% from three-point range.

After the game Coach Stackhouse said the shots just weren’t falling.

“We just have to produce and play a little bit better. I didn’t think this was a game to launch up a bunch of threes. I thought we had good looks at them, they just didn’t fall. Paul Lewis is a good shooter for us, but he’s shooting sub-25% for us right now. Evan Taylor, same thing, he had some really good looks that just didn’t fall for him. Those things will turn for us.”

3. Ezra Manjon played like last year’s version of himself

Fifth-year senior Ezra Manjon reached double figures for the eighth time this season. Per usual, he was extremely active defensively and attacked the basket consistently on the offensive end. He also hit several mid-range jump shots, which has been an aspect of his game he’s worked extremely hard to improve. It’s hard to describe his importance to this team, which makes one wonder where this team would be without him to this point. Overall, his 18-point effort could’ve been better as he ended up shooting just 7-18 from the floor.

After the game, Ezra Manjon credited the Western Carolina defense after a tough night offensive for the Commodores.

“They did good things on defense. We had good looks. Those are looks that have fallen for us before. We just missed them tonight, that’s how the ball went.”

Vanderbilt has their toughest opponent of the season up next as 23rd-ranked Memphis (9-2) awaits at FedEx Forum on national television.