Vanderbilt’s three-game win streak came to an abrupt end in Saturday’s 85-82 loss to Missouri at Mizzou arena, a place where Vanderbilt has failed to win in seven attempts throughout program history.
The loss marks the beginning of a challenging stretch for the Commodores that includes four-straight games against ranked opponents.
"We had our opportunities and didn't take advantage of them" head coach Jerry Stackhouse said in his postgame radio interview "they just made a few more plays than we did."
Stackhouse had to feel good about the way the 'Dores came out in the first half, Vanderbilt got out to a 8-2 lead to start the afternoon.
Missouri came back and tied things at the half, but Vanderbilt showed plenty of positive signs.
Vanderbilt lost the first-half turnover battle by five but made up for it by out rebounding Missouri by 14 in the half. Eight of Vanderbilt’s 25 rebounds came on the offensive glass and resulted in 11 second-chance points before the break.
Liam Robbins and Trey Thomas led the way with 10 first-half points, each.
Things got away from Vanderbilt early in the second half after a 13-2 Missouri run that put the Tigers up by double-digits for the first time of the afternoon. At that point, Vanderbilt trailed in the second half rebounding battle despite its first-half success on the glass.
When it looked like they were out of it, the ‘Dores stormed back behind a few timely shots from 3-point range by Noah Shelby and Emmanuel Ansong.
Ultimately Vanderbilt stayed with Missouri but fell short after Mizzou knocked down a few timely free throws in the final seconds to put the game out of reach.
Robbins led the Commodores in scoring with 14 points and seven rebounds as they fell to 8-7 on the season and 1-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Commodores shot 48.5% from the field and 29.6% from 3-point range in their loss
Vanderbilt pushes Mizzou to the end but falls short
Vanderbilt’s winning streak came to a close on Saturday in its three-point loss that was closer than the pre-game spread would have indicated.
The Commodores held the lead for over 15 minutes and trailed by just two with 20 seconds to play but ultimately fell short behind a few timely free throws by Missouri guards Sean East II and DeAndre Gholston.
"There's a lot of good things we can learn from in this game that I think will help us going forward, I got no complaint about the effort, we just got to work a little bit more on our excecution." Stackhouse added on the radio.
Once again, Vanderbilt was able to avoid letting the wheels fall off, but didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to come out victorious.
Three Quick Takes:
Today was an encouraging day for Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt went into a place on Saturday in which its program has never won and Missouri has only lost in once this season.
The ‘Dores went into a sold out Mizzou arena and pushed the ranked Tigers to the limit on national television.
Despite its 15 straight road losses vs ranked opponents, Vanderbilt looked like it belonged in a place and against a team that not many do.
The Commodores outshot the Tigers from the field, outrebounded them, and were able to run their offense effectively against the pressure that they saw.
Although Stackhouse and his team ultimately fell short, there was plenty of reason for optimism after the way Vanderbilt responded to the challenges that Mizzou threw at it.
The turnover battle was a big factor
Missouri came into Saturday’s contest ranked just 157th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric. Despite that rating, the Tigers still clearly present some challenges on that end.
“They play really hard, they try to pressure you, try to play at a really fast pace, I think it's gonna be important for us to take care of the ball." Stackhouse said on thursday.
The head coaches’ assessment of Dennis Gates’ team proved to be more than fair in Saturday’s contest in which the ‘Dores consistently dealt with full-court pressing and ball pressure.
When Vanderbilt’s offense flowed well, it was because of the Commodores’ composure. Vanderbilt led for over 12 minutes in the first half and for the majority of that time Stackhouse’s team had only committed four turnovers.
In the final minutes of the half, the ‘Dores turned it over five times which allowed Missouri to tie the contest and get up to 10 points off turnovers.
The Commodores ultimately lost the turnover battle 14-6 and have lost it in 11 of its 15 games this season.
Myles Stute’s slow stretch continued
Just a few weeks ago, Stute held the title of Vanderbilt’s safety blanket and most consistent player.
Since his five-straight double-digit scoring performances, the junior wing has averaged just 6.83 points per game. That stretch has included just one double-digit outing and a field goal percentage of 29.4.
Stute’s outing on Saturday consisted of just two points on one-of-five shooting against a defense that was schemed to slow him down.
With the way Stute shot throughout the early part of the season, it’s hard to see a way that the veteran wing doesn’t get going again soon, but Vanderbilt will need its sharpshooter to be a factor down the stretch of the season.
Notes:
Stackhouse stuck with his starting lineup of Trey Thomas, Tyrin Lawrence, Myles Stute, Colin Smith, and Quentin Millora-Brown
Vanderbilt hasn’t ever won at Mizzou Arena.
Miles Keefe was sick today and unavailable.
Vanderbilt’s largest run was 8-0.
The presser recording glitched for us, hence the lack of quotes.
