Wiedmer: The Vanderbilt men's basketball program has now lost the one thing that still made it special

NASHVILLE - Through 1,080 men's college basketball games, whatever Vanderbilt did or didn't accomplish, it always walked off the court having done at least one thing right. It always hit at least one 3-point shot.

The Masters has its green jacket, dogwoods and azaleas. The Kentucky Derby has its mint juleps, blankets of roses and the singing of "My Old Kentucky Home." Tennessee Volunteers football has "Rocky Top."

Vandy? It had The Streak, which had become such a part of its hoops tradition that as soon as the first Commodores triple found its way through the net inside Memorial Gymnasium, the public-address announcer would shout "And The Streak continues!"

In fact, Vanderbilt was one of only three programs to be able to claim it had hit at least one 3-pointer in every game since the inception of the 3-point line at the start of the 1986-87 season. Princeton and UNLV were the other two.

But no more. Not after Saturday night against Tennessee, which not only thumped Vandy 66-45 but took away its beloved Streak. Or maybe the Big Orange just happened to be the opponent on a night the Commodores missed all 25 of the 3-pointers they took.

So like almost everything else involving the Vanderbilt men's basketball program of late, The (3-point) Streak is over. Unfortunately for the citizens of Vandyland, a far less flattering streak continues. Saturday's loss was Vanderbilt's 24th straight in Southeastern Conference play, including two SEC tourney games. Not since March 3, 2018, against Ole Miss have the Commodores defeated a conference foe.

To make matters worse on both fronts, Commodores foward Aaron Nesmith - who's out for an indefinite period of time with a stress fracture in his foot - was hitting more than 50% of his 3-point shots this season.

Another reason to bleed for the Black and Gold: Freshman Jordan Wright actually hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 to play, only to have it waved off for a shot-clock violation.

Though no relation to the former toboggan-wearing Monkees guitarist Michael Nesmith, Aaron Nesmith's absence pretty much guarantees that Vanderbilt will be everybody's stepping stone unless or until he returns.

Vanderbilt men's basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse applauds during the first half of his team's home game against Tennessee on Saturday. Tennessee won 66-45 as the teams combined to shoot 1-for-33 from 3-point range, with the visiting Vols accounting for the lone make. / AP photo by Mark Humphrey

None of this is probably fair to first-year Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse, the former North Carolina Tar Heels great and longtime NBA forward.

Sinking into a chair at the close of Saturday's loss, he softly said, his deep voice trailing off: "Thought this was a winnable game. A team that was struggling coming in."

It was a struggle for both the Commodores and the Vols over this snoozefest's first 20 minutes. Somehow, Tennessee held a 21-20 lead at intermission despite failing to score for the final 6:27 of the opening half.

Frustrated by his Vols' 10 first-half turnovers, coach Rick Barnes - whose team entered the game with a 2-2 SEC mark - instructed his players to "get a shot (and if it misses), go get it and see what happens."

The strategy worked. After hitting 40% from the field in the first half, Tennessee hit 66.7% in the second.

Meanwhile, the Commodores turned it over in the opening minutes of the second period, fell behind 29-20, and, in Stackhouse's words:"It spiraled down from there. We had 13 straight stops coming in (to intermission). We couldn't find the basket in the second half."

This is spiraling down, Streak or no Streak: A year ago, then-Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew expected to build an NCAA tournament team around freshman point guard and former Brentwood Academy star Darius Garland.

Less than a month into the schedule, Garland and his 17-point scoring average were lost for the season due to a knee injury. He went pro last spring. Without him, Vanderbilt lost all 18 conference games and its lone SEC tourney game. Drew was fired.

Enter Stackhouse, whose lone coaching experience was in the NBA's developmental league. Nevertheless, he had the Commodores a quite respectable 8-5 entering conference play. Now they're 8-9.

To his credit, he said he has experienced worse.

"I won 18 games as a rookie (in the NBA) a year after playing in the Final Four," he said. "I wouldn't even go outside when we were on the road. I just wanted to hide my head under a pillow."

He soon added, "This is tough. But we're trying. It's not going to be perfect. But we'll continue to fight."

The Vols are fighting, too. Fighting and winning at least as much as they lose, which seems to please Barnes more some nights than others.

"We've got a long way to go," he said after this one. "We've got to get a whole lot better. That's all I can tell you."

But at least on Saturday night inside Memorial, they were 21 points better than the hosts, whose coach was frustrated with the home fans' frustration over losing the one thing they'd been proud of 34 years and 1,080 games.

"Fans were more concerned about the 3 than getting baskets," he said. "We heard a smattering of boos from our fans. You're supposed to get that on the road."

True. But you're also supposed to make at least one 3-pointer in 25 attempts. Instead, the grand old gym once known for producing Memorial Magic has fallen victim to Memorial Misery on all fronts. Here's hoping the 24-game SEC losing streak ends well, well short of 1,080 games.

Mark Wiedmer

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.