Why Vanderbilt basketball’s missed opportunity came long before loss to Memphis

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In many contexts, Vanderbilt basketball’s performance against Memphis on Saturday would be an encouraging sign of a team moving in the right direction.

A two-point loss to a top 25 team on the road, a team that has lost at home just four times since the start of 2021, is something an NCAA Tournament bubble team would do.

But the Commodores aren’t an NCAA Tournament bubble team, and even a win over the Tigers wouldn’t have put them there. Ezra Manjon, after scoring 22 points, saw his last-ditch 3-pointer bounce off the front of the rim. If his shot had traveled just a few inches farther, it still wouldn’t have changed anything for this team’s bottom line.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” coach Jerry Stackhouse said afterward, and strictly in the context of the Memphis game, he was right. But Vanderbilt has long since lost the luxury of playing games where having a chance would mean something.

Its 77-75 loss to Memphis was its seventh in its past eight games. That includes defeats to Boston College and Western Carolina at home, and blowouts at the hands of Arizona State and Texas Tech. The only real way to turn around a season this far gone is to win the SEC Tournament.

The Commodores played legitimately well against the Tigers. Manjon led the charge by making seven of his 11 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws. Three-point specialists Tasos Kamateros and Jason Rivera-Torres had 12 points and three triples apiece, but both have seen inconsistent playing time this season.

Tyrin Lawrence still hasn’t found the form that made him last season’s breakout star, though he did have 12 points with six rebounds. Vanderbilt turned the ball over 17 times, forced just nine turnovers and allowed Memphis to shoot 35 free throws.

In another context, this game could have been a turning point for the season, something to spur the Commodores akin to what they did last season. But it’s already too late for that, and that’s a reflection on a team that waited until Dec. 23 to show its best.

“A lot of the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-vanderbilt-basketballs-missed-opportunity-065107287.html

Author : The Tennessean

Publish date : 2023-12-24 06:51:07

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