-Those first five minutes were Noah Carter's best outing since the Alabama game on Jan. 16. That game-opening alley-oop was gorgeous - the team used to run that a lot for Aidan Shaw last season. Most of his points, as well as others', have come from just running the floor well and beating Vandy down the court. They looked like last year's team.
-Mizzou's drought came once Vandy started getting back on defense and stopping those transition buckets. They just can't help themselves getting into the 6-minute scoring droughts. Literally anybody, Vanderbilt included will catch up when that happens.It didn't help that Sean East was hurt for a good stretch of that drought, but still. Carter made his first four shots, then missed his next five. They've gotten nothing from NIck Honor and very little from Tamar Bates. There's just no juice.
-Defensively, Mizzou seems like it's overhelping. Vandy will drive in, kick the ball out to an open man, then either pull up for the 3 or blow by the man closing out. It's tough when Mabor Majak has been the best interior defender that's played today. They switch too much and they gamble way too much for steals. It's been bad.
-Losing an 11-point lead is demoralizing. Losing an 11-point lead to Vanderbilt is soul-crushing. Even if they go on to win this game, you're not going to feel great about it. They need a lot more than six points from people other than Carter and East.
-Mizzou's drought came once Vandy started getting back on defense and stopping those transition buckets. They just can't help themselves getting into the 6-minute scoring droughts. Literally anybody, Vanderbilt included will catch up when that happens.It didn't help that Sean East was hurt for a good stretch of that drought, but still. Carter made his first four shots, then missed his next five. They've gotten nothing from NIck Honor and very little from Tamar Bates. There's just no juice.
-Defensively, Mizzou seems like it's overhelping. Vandy will drive in, kick the ball out to an open man, then either pull up for the 3 or blow by the man closing out. It's tough when Mabor Majak has been the best interior defender that's played today. They switch too much and they gamble way too much for steals. It's been bad.
-Losing an 11-point lead is demoralizing. Losing an 11-point lead to Vanderbilt is soul-crushing. Even if they go on to win this game, you're not going to feel great about it. They need a lot more than six points from people other than Carter and East.
