Vanderbilt in free fall since last meeting with Kentucky

vandy — Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images

Vanderbilt is what everybody expected them to be. Somewhat talented, not particularly well-coached and crumbling in conference play. Sure, the Commodores beat Arkansas to start league play and swept Georgia. But otherwise, Vandy is one of the worst power conference teams in college basketball.

Since that triumph over Arkansas, the Hogs are playing at a top-25 level statistically while Vanderbilt dove off a cliff, losing five of its last seven. Two losses to South Carolina and beatdowns against Florida and Kentucky paint an even uglier picture. They ought to be thankful for Tom Crean.

Since January 8th, Vanderbilt ranks 142nd in the country per my favorite analytics site, Bart Torvik — among the worst of power conference teams. On Bart’s vast stats engine, Vandy resides in the bottom 30 in the entire nation in every rebounding category and two-point defense. So yeah, Oscar Tshiebwe should feast.

But the bottom of the barrel is no new home for this SEC team. Since Bryce Drew’s infamous 0-19 conference record in 2019, Jerry Stackhouse has hardly improved. Vandy won just three games in each of his first two seasons and is 9-33 overall in league play under his tutelage.

However, they already reached that third-win threshold by completing a season sweep over Georgia last Saturday. The progress is ever so slim, but existent.

Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Strangely, the ‘Dores do have some talent. Scotty Pippen Jr. is as good a point guard as anyone in the nation and would be widely praised if he wasn’t hiding on a rudderless program as approximately the 375th biggest attraction in Nashville.

Vanderbilt shoots the ball sneakily well too. Pippen torched Kentucky in the first meeting this season with 3s from off dribble side-steps, but he’s flanked by four other guys that knock down one or more long balls per game.

Essentially, this is the same Vanderbilt team as Stackhouse’s other two seasons. A few especially talented players, some terrific offensive set designs, a load of three-point attempts. Yet a team that plays with little cohesion or sense of how to win meaningful basketball games.

Kentucky rolls. Or we riot.