(NOTE: Joey Dwyer also contributed to this article.)

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt jumped on Southeastern Louisiana early and didn't let up, cruising to a 93-55 win over the Lions at Memorial Gymnasium on Friday evening.

Point guard Ezra Manjon, who came off the bench, was one of 14 Commodores to score, chipping in 10. Noah Shelby led the team with 12.

Vanderbilt hit 14-of-28 3-pointers (37.8%) while the Lions were 1-of-19 (5.3%) from distance.

Vanderbilt led by 24 at the half and never trailed by less than that after the break. Trey Thomas hit a pair of 3s to start the second-half scoring, and the rout was on.

From 8:18 through the rest of the evening, coach Jerry Stackhouse used only walk-ons and freshmen the rest of the way.

Vandy (7-6) used 41.2% 3-point shooting to take a 47-23 halftime lead. Vandy's first double-figure lead came on Manjon's lay-up with 9:20 in the first half, which made it 23-12.

Colin Smith hit back-to-back 3s later and then Jordan Wright added another to extend the lead to 19 before Tyrin Lawrence's lay-up made it 40-19, Vandy's first 20-point lead.

Vandy out-rebouendined the Lions, 50-35, and turned it over just seven times.

It's the Commodores' last non-conference game this season. Vandy opens Southeastern Conference play against South Carolina (7-6) on January 3.

Lawrence, who had seven first-half points in 16 minutes, didn't play a second of the second half, spending the second half in sweats on the bench. Stackhouse termed it a calf injury in the post-game press conference.

“He had a calf strain, we don’t know how bad it is right now,” Stackhouse said.

A post-game look at Lawrence perhaps eases some concerns. The junior guard was wearing sandals while standing and talking with teammates on the floor after the game, with no visible limp as he walked off the floor.

Lawrence entered the evening as the team's third-leading scorer at 10.7 points per game. He was 3-for-4 from the floor and had three assists to one turnover on Friday.

Wright, Vandy's leading-returning scorer from last season, has not produced as expected this year. Much of that is due to a back injury sustained in a loss to St. Mary's on Nov. 24. Wright missed the Wofford game (Dec. 3) with that injury and then played the next one against Pitt, during which he suffered a hip pointer that caused him to miss the Grambling game on Dec. 9, which the Commodores lost.

Wright looked better last week (Vandy's last game) in a win over Alabama A&M, during which he hit a key 3-pointer in the final minute. On that day, Wright scored 12 points and posted a season-high 183 offensive rating according to Ken Pomeroy.

On Friday, Wright went up for a dunk off a pass from a teammate but couldn't convert, and instead came crashing to the floor. Those are the moments when you worry about a player aggravating a back injury but Wright instead popped right up. Minutes later, he soared to swat away a short jumper by the Lions' Sami Pissis.

"Brandon (Wells) says everybody is 100% and full go," Stackhouse said when asked about Wright's health.

“That guy is as tough as it gets, I don’t worry about him hitting the floor or dealing with physicality,” added the fourth-year coach.

Granted, it's a holiday break and granted, it's a Friday, but the game-night scene for this one was lacking. Fans trickled in late, and it appeared there were perhaps 2,000-something fans in attendance, and probably 3,000 at most.

Maybe more telling was the post-game press conference. Next week marks the 20-year anniversary of our site, and it's the first time we've been the lone ones in attendance for a post-game press conference following a home game. (You can see the video below.)

Three quick takes:

Friday night’s contest was refreshing

Throughout the first two months of the season Stackhouse and his team faced plenty of non-power five opponents, but those games have rarely played out in the way that Friday night’s contest did.

In Vanderbilt’s 38-point win over Southeastern Louisiana, things looked easy in a way that they hadn’t throughout much of November and December.

Seeing the ease with which Vanderbilt won felt like a light in the Commodores’ otherwise dark season that has included losses to Southern Miss and Grambling State along with close calls against other non-power five opponents.

Friday night’s lopsided victory marked the Commodores’ biggest margin of victory on the season through 13 games. The 93-point outing marked also marked Vanderbilt’s highest scoring total of the season.

Vanderbilt will be well off if it can consistently shoot the way it did from 3-point range on Friday.

After Vanderbilt’s eight-point win over Alabama A&M, Stackhouse left no doubt as to what he sees as this team's identity.

“We’re a 3-point shooting team,” the fourth-year coach said last week.

Knocking down shots from beyond the arc will certainly be important as Vanderbilt finds itself with less athleticism and off the dribble ability than many of its SEC foes, but it had not shot it as well as it needed to from beyond the arc.

Until Friday night.

“I think a happy number for us is somewhere between 10 to 12 threes. I think if we can get between 10 and 12 threes, we’re going to have a good chance to win.” Stackhouse said

In their win over Southeastern Louisiana, the Commodores knocked down a season-high 14 shots from 3-point range while shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc.

“We’ve got really good shooters and whenever that three ball is going for us we can get some separation,” the fourth-year coach added.

To get even with the talent of the Southeastern Conference, Vanderbilt will need to be a prolific 3-point shooting team. For the first time of the season, the Commodores showed that they can be just that.

Things will only get more difficult from here

Winning in blowout fashion is certainly nice, but contests with less challenging opponents will end after the ball drops and the new year rings in.

In the month of January alone, Vanderbilt will play five games against ranked opponents along with three road games against unranked opponents.

Get right games and ones in which Vanderbilt is a heavy favorite are likely a thing of the past. Going forward, the Commodores will have to bring it every night.

Vanderbilt will immediately be tested on Tuesday night as it hosts South Carolina in a game that will hold importance beyond early January.