Vanderbilt basketball falls short in opening night contest

NASHVILLE, TENN–Vanderbilt opened its season with a test on Monday night, but cold shooting in the first half put the Commodores in a hole they never got out of in a 76-67 loss at Memorial Gymnasium.

Vanderbilt got off to a slow start with just six points on 2-13 shooting from the field with just 11:15 to go. The Commodores struggled to create good looks early on against the Tigers swarming defense.

“We dug ourselves into a hole,” Jerry Stackhouse said.

“We just came out flat,” Jordan Wright added.

Around the 14 minute mark, Stackhouse turned to his freshmen group of Colin Smith, Malik Dia, and Paul Lewis. But from that point the bleeding only got worse.

The Tigers went on a 7-0 run before the Commodores were able to stop the bleeding with an Emmanuel Ansong transition dunk.

Vanderbilt was able to bounce back late in the half with a mini run, punctuated by a Tyrin Lawrence three and a crowd energizing dunk in transition.

Although Stackhouse’s team started to get things going offensively late in the half, the Commodores ended the half down 34-22.

Vanderbilt’s group was outrebounded 22-13 in the half, although it did grab six offensive rebounds.

Vanderbilt shot just 30% from the field and 14% from 3 as opposed to the 51% that Memphis shot from the field and the 20% they shot from behind the arc.

The Commodores hung with the Tigers early on in the second half, but a few early turnovers and Liam Robbins picking up his third foul derailed any chance the Commodores had at an early run heading into the first media timeout of the half.

Vanderbilt’s back was against the wall at the midpoint of the second half but an inexperienced lineup consisting of three of Vanderbilt’s freshmen, Trey Thomas, and Ansong stopped the bleeding and kept Vanderbilt’s head above water.

Stackhouse’s young group cut the lead dow to ten as his starters returned to the floor alongside Smith but the Commodores could not continue their momentum and dropped their opening night contest.

The final buzzer sounded as the contingent of visiting fans as Memorial Gymnasium erupted in “let’s go Tigers” chants.

Stackhouse’s team turned things around in the second half behind his talented freshman group, but the Commodores ultimately came up short in their early test.

A missed opportunity

Heading into Monday night’s opener, Vanderbilt basketball had plenty of momentum and excitement surrounding the program, Stackhouse and his team had an opportunity to continue that momentum through Monday night, but the Commodores could not capitalize on their opportunity.

Despite the momentum, Vanderbilt dug themselves in a hole early and couldn’t dig out of it despite a second half push by their second unit.

The Commodores had an opportunity to pick up a resume boosting victory and a game that would’ve taken the excitement around the program to the next level, but the Commodores missed that opportunity.

Stackhouse’s team is far from dead in the water, but missing an opportunity to pick up an upper quad win.

Three quick takes:

Vanderbilt will be reliant on the three ball

Vaanderbilt’s biggest question heading into the offseason was how they would generate offense, the Commodores clearly answered that question on Monday night.

Stackhouse’s team will live and die by the three ball.

No matter what lineup was on the floor, Vanderbilt ended a large amount of their possessions with a three point attempt.

Tonight, the Commodores shot it well, but didn’t convert on enough looks early on to seal

The Commodores shot it a solid 40% from beyond the arc on 30 attempts, but were forced into too many bad looks.

To become a more consistently productive offensive group, Stackhouse’s team will have to find other ways to consistently get good looks.

The Commodores were forced into too many contested, deep looks by the swarming Tigers defense tonight.

Vanderbilt needs more from Jordan Wright, Ezra Manjon, and Liam Robbins than they got tonight.

To generate good looks more consistently, Vanderbilt needs its playmakers to generate offense.

The Commodores will benefit from any contributions they can get from role players like Myles Stute, Tyrin Lawrence, and Quentin Millora-Brown, but to become a consistently good offensive team the Commodores need to be able to rely on Jordan Wright, Liam Robbins, and Ezra Manjon.

Tonight, Vanderbilt’s three feature players combined for just 20 points. Wright finished with just seven points, Robbins chipped in seven, and Ezra Manjon ended with just six points and three assists.

Each player scored at least one basket after the outcome of the game was already all but decided as well.

With a hole as big as Scotty Pippen Jr. leaves, Vanderbilt’s players need to step into bigger roles for the group to be consistently productive offensively.

Tyrin Lawrence stepped into a bigger role nicely as he finished with a team high of 14 points, but Vanderbilt’s other high volume scoring candidates left some to be desired.

Vanderbilt's freshmen will be contributors

Stackhouse would have loved to get a win out of tonight’s opening night contest, but he also felt it was important to see how his freshman would respond to an early season test.

Four members of Vanderbilt’s highly ranked 2022 class saw the floor in the nine point loss to Memphis.

Colin Smith led the group with 12 minutes, Malik dia narrowly trailed with 11, Paul Lewis chipped in 7, and Lee Dort saw 3 minutes of action.

Noah Shelby was the only scholarship member of Vanderbilt’s highly ranked class to not see the floor.

Smith and Dia each knocked down a three while the other two freshman were held scoreless.

The freshmen also contributed outside of scoring throughout the night.

Colin Smith, in particular, provided a spark off the bench and provided much needed fight on the glass. The freshman forward grabbed four rebounds in his twelve minutes on the floor.

Paul Lewis also ran Vanderbilt’s offense and didn’t commit a turnover while on the floor.

Although Stackhouse has spoken about leaning on his veterans, The Commodores played their best basketball tonight while three freshmen were on the floor.

"I want to play our young guys, we need to build that depth" Stackhouse said.

Stackhouse liked what he saw from his freshmen tonight, but the decision to play them when Vanderbilt’s back was against the wall largely served as a wake up call for his older group.

"I didn't think our older guys were playing well, so we gave the younger guys a chance." Stackhouse added.

The Commodores had some encouraging stretches but ultimately fell short in a 76-67 opening night matchup against Memphis.

Notes:

Starting 5:

Ezra Manjon

Tyrin Lawrence

Jordan Wright

Myles Stute

Quentin Millora-Brown

Early subs:

Robbins subs Millora-Brown out with 16:05 to go, was the first one off the bench.

Ansong was the second sub with 15:13 to go.

Colin Smith subbed in at at 14:12, the first freshman.

Trey Thomas subbed in for Tyrin Lawrence with 12:50.

Paul Lewis and Malik Dia subbed in at the 11:15 mark.

Lee Dort subbed in with 12:35 to go in the 2nd half.

Other notes:

Myles Stute made the first basket of the night.

Liam Robbins picked up his third foul just 36 seconds into the second half which limited Vanderbilt defensively.

Tyrin Lawrence lead the Commodores with 14 points, Myles Stute also scored in double figures with 12 points.

Memphis provided a unique, aggressive look for the Commodores offense to see.

Liam Robbins finished the game with 15 minutes, Quentin Millora-Brown finished with 14.

Ezra Manjon lead the Commodores with 30 minutes played.