Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball team hasn’t been completely devoid of “Memorial Magic” in Bryce Drew’s first season as coach.
Drew’s Commodores did, after all, top the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 76-74, in December on Luke Kornet’s 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining. Yet Vanderbilt’s 5-6 record in Southeastern Conference play is supported mostly by four victories away from Nashville, including a 68-66 upset of then-No. 19 Florida on Jan. 21.
Vandy has lost its past four SEC games at Memorial Gym.
“We’ve talked to our players about it, but there is nothing we can really put our fingers on,” Drew said this week. “Collectively we’ve talked about it, and we’ll see if we can bottle our approach from the last couple of games moving forward that we’ve had on the road.”
The Commodores improved to 12-12 overall Tuesday night with a 72-59 drubbing of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where they led 25-4 less than 10 minutes into the game. Vanderbilt led Arkansas by 15 with six minutes remaining when the two teams met Jan. 24 in Nashville, but Daryl Macon’s three free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining capped a 71-70 win by the Razorbacks.
Vanderbilt’s home stumbles also include an 87-75 loss to rival Tennessee on Jan. 14, but the Commodores can even their SEC record with a win Saturday at Missouri.
Spiraling season
Georgia has lost five consecutive SEC games and is just 13-11 overall and 4-7 in league play entering Saturday afternoon’s game at Tennessee. The fifth straight setback was Tuesday night’s 72-60 loss in Stegeman Coliseum to Florida, a team the Bulldogs took into overtime last month in Gainesville.
“Our team is not playing well, and the blame lies with me,” eighth-year Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said in a news conference Tuesday night. “We’re not nearly the defensive team that we’ve been the last four to five years, and offensively we’re just not playing well.”
The Bulldogs are the only SEC team with two games against each of the league’s ranked trio of Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina. They are 0-5 in those contests with a home date against the Wildcats next week.
NCAA positioning
After becoming the first SEC team this season to lose at Missouri last weekend and then getting thumped by Vanderbilt, Arkansas is backtracking at the wrong time when it comes to NCAA tournament consideration. The Razorbacks had plummeted to 60th as of Thursday evening in the Rating Percentage Index used by the NCAA.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is 37th in the RPI, trailing only Florida (seventh), Kentucky (12th) and South Carolina (24th) among SEC teams.
Bring it on
The league’s 5-5 showing in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge late last month has SEC coaches wanting more showcase opportunities during the season.
“I’m not one to watch a lot, but when I do watch games on TV, it still bothers me that I don’t think our league gets the respect it deserves,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “I wish we could have a challenge some way with every league. I would like to see more of that stuff, because in that challenge we had some good wins.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.