It took Vanderbilt eight tries last basketball season to win a second Southeastern Conference road game.
The Commodores needed only two opportunities this season, topping Alabama 65-64 last Wednesday in Tuscaloosa and defeating South Carolina 89-79 Saturday in Columbia. Vandy (14-3, 3-0) rallied from 10 points down early in the second half to knock off the Crimson Tide and survived Devan Downey’s 35-point performance against the Gamecocks.
“We’ve grown up a lot from a year ago, when we had a lot of freshmen running around out there playing,” coach Kevin Stallings said Monday, “so they seem like they’ve gotten more mature and understand the value of a 40-minute basketball game. We’ve weathered some pretty good punches by some people and been able to sustain and find a way to overcome things.
“I’ve been impressed and proud of what they’ve done thus far.”
The Commodores have two players — 6-foot-7 sophomore Jeffery Taylor and 6-11 junior A.J. Ogilvy — shooting better than 54 percent from the floor and combining for 28 points a game. Vandy has been to the free-throw line 101 more times than its opponents and has made 91 more free throws.
“A lot of that is because A.J. is giving us a very good presence inside,” Stallings said. “Our ability to get to the foul line has made a big difference in all of our games.”
Vandy is off Wednesday and will host Auburn on Saturday.
Undefeated at half
If SEC games lasted 20 minutes, Georgia would be 3-0 in league play under first-year coach Mark Fox. The Bulldogs led Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State at intermission, and they were up 64-51 with less than five minutes remaining Saturday in Starkville before falling 72-69.
“They haven’t been in very many games like that in this league,” Fox said. “Last year, their average margin for defeat was in double figures, and we just haven’t had a lot of experience in these games. I don’t think a lot of people expected them to be in this situation this year.
“You have to give them credit for battling and for putting us in a position to win. We just have to learn how to finish.”
Fox cited fatigue among his starters as a big reason his Bulldogs have wilted late. He stressed the importance of developing productivity off the bench.
Odds and ends
Georgia, Auburn and LSU are the three teams still winless in league play, but that number will be reduced to two Wednesday when the two sets of Tigers vie in Baton Rouge (Georgia is off until hosting Tennessee on Saturday). … Auburn coach Jeff Lebo on Kentucky freshmen Eric Bledsoe and John Wall: “I haven’t seen two better point guards (this season), and they’re on the same team. They’re like seniors out there.” … Ten of the SEC’s 17 head-to-head games so far have been won by the road team. … Kentucky coach John Calipari on 6-11 freshman DeMarcus Cousins: “Ten years from now, if I need a kidney, he’ll be the first in line.”