NASHVILLE, Tenn.—What started as a night in which Vanderbilt hoops was a double-digit favorite, ended with a dejected Commodores team still looking for their first victory walking off the Memorial Gymnasium floor after a 60-48 loss at the hands of Southern Miss.

Freshman forward Colin Smith came out of the gates firing with seven points and two offensive rebounds. The freshman accounted for the Commodores first seven points while defending Southern Miss’ leading scorer, Austin Crowley, who originally signed with Vandy before heading to Ole Miss.

The rest of the Commodores were quiet, however. Vanderbilt got off to another slow offensive start as Southern Miss handled Jerry Stackhouse’s aggressive defense with poise.

The Commodores trailed 19-16 at the eight-minute mark of the first half. The Golden Eagles possessed a 29-25 lead at halftime and still had not fallen behind.

Stackhouse’s team finished the half shooting 34% from the field, 14% from 3-point range, and just 33% from the free throw line.

The Commodores also finished the half with just five assists as opposed to six turnovers.

Things stayed largely the same for the Commodores in the early second half as well.

Although the Commodores looked better offensively throughout the second half, they still trailed 48-41 at the 7:34 media timeout in the second half after a few missed opportunities from beyond the arc and a few costly turnovers.

The Commodores came out of the break with two missed free throws by Colin Smith but slowly inched Golden Eagles lead down to four at the final media timeout after a Quentin Millora-Brown converted on an and-1 opportunity.

The Commodores then extended their defense out to guard 94 feet as the crowd got involved.

The Golden Eagles quickly clapped back, though and the Commodores comeback fell short.

A blip on Vanderbilt’s resume

One of the most important things for Stackhouse's group needed to do to reach the NCAA tournament was to avoid the bad loss that would put itself in a hole to start Southeastern Conference play.

In an opportunity to get right, the Commodores squandered and opportunity and suffered a defeat that will likely end as a Quad 3 or 4 loss.

The Commodores now have a stain on their resume and remain winless as they head to Pennsylvania to play a tough Temple team. There aren’t a lot of “gimmes” left on the schedule, so finding ways to pull upsets will be incredibly important for Vanderbilt.

There is a lot of season left, but this is about as catastrophic of a loss as there can be in mid-November.

Three quick takes

Stackhouse isn’t handing anything to his veterans

After appearing displeased with his veteran group on Monday night, Stackhouse went away from many of them to open Friday night’s contest.

Vanderbilt’s starting lineup consisted of freshman guard Paul Lewis, junior guard Trey Thomas, Smith and senior forward Liam Robbins.

Friday’s only starter who was in the opening lineup on Monday was senior forward Myles Stute.

Stackhouse kept his abnormal starting group on the floor past the first media timeout. Ezra Manjon, Jordan Wright, Tyrin Lawrence, Emmanuel Ansong, and Quentin Millora-Brown didn’t check in until the 14:31 mark of the first half.

Freshman forward Malik Dia also checked in at the 8:57 mark and Noah Shelby made his college debut at the 8:00 media timeout.

The Commodores on floor lineup featured lineups with four freshmen on the floor at once.

Vanderbilt’s leader in minutes played was Manjon, who had 28, followed by Smith and Stute at 27.

Vanderbilt is a better team if its veterans step in to bigger roles than they’ve had in the past, but it is clear that Stackhouse seems to giving his talented freshman class a real chance to contribute.

Vanderbilt cannot get to where they want to go without improving offensively

Vanderbilt has always wanted to establish its identity on the defensive end, but defending can only take an SEC team so far.

The Commodores got off to another slow start on Friday night that continued through the entire first half and the early second half. The Commodores settled for too many 3s, didn’t established the post, and didn’t shoot well enough to make up for the lack of scoring they’ve produced off the dribble.

Stackhouse’s team finished with just one player in double figures, a shooting percentage from the field of 33% and a 3-of-25 showing from 3.

Vanderbilt also lost the turnover battle, 15-9.

The clear way for Vanderbilt to take the step that they want is to improve offensively, tonight was a step in the wrong direction for the struggling Commodores.

Jordan Wright showed flashes of being Vanderbilt’s alpha dog

The loss of Scottie Pippen Jr. has created a gaping hole in Vanderbilt’s offense, the 20-point-per-game scorer was the alpha dog for last year’s Commodores team.

Part of the reason for Vanderbilt’s offensive struggles throughout the early part of the season is its lack of a go-to guy when they needed a bucket.

Since Pippen’s departure, that role has always been Wright’s to step into. The veteran wing hadn’t truly taken control of Vanderbilt’s offense until the second half of Friday night’s contest.

Wright was quiet for the entirety of the first half, but when Vanderbilt had their back against the wall, the Louisiana native flipped a switch.

Wright took control of the offense, got to his spots off the dribble and ignited Vanderbilt’s second-half run, but ultimately made a few costly turnovers and missed some good looks with opportunities to propel Vandy into a win.

Wright took an encouraging step today but couldn’t carry the Commodores to a 1-1 record.

Notes:

Stackhouse mixed up his starting lineup tonight, the five starters were:

Paul Lewis

Trey Thomas

Colin Smith

Myles Stute

Liam Robbins

Lewis took the place of Ezra Manjon, Thomas took the place of Tyrin Lawrence, Colin Smith took the place of Jordan Wright, and Liam Robbins took the place of Quentin Millora-Brown. Myles Stute is the only starter that also started on Monday.

Crowley scored the first basket of the night.

Colin Smith scored the Commodores first bucket.

Ezra Manjon, jordan Wright, Tyrin Lawrence, Emmanuel Ansong, and Quentin Millora-Brown checked in at the first time at the 14:31 mark.

Malik Dia checked in at the 8:57 mark, then Noah Shelby checked in at the 8:00 mark in the first half.

Jerry Stackhouse went 11-deep with his rotation.

Vandy won the rebounding battle 44-42.

Tyrin Lawrence, Myles Stute, Noah Shelby, Paul Lewis, and Emmanuel Ansong were all held scoreless.

Vanderbilt held the lead for just 13 seconds.