SB Nation - Jermaine Beal

Postgame: Vanderbilt 99, Mercer 59

KingJamesIV — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:33:15 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

That's the way you end things before Christmas break. Finally the team shot the ball to preseason expectations. Jermaine Beal played outstanding defense on James Florence, holding the 8th leading scorer in the country to just 10 points, 13 below his average. Brad Tinsley played within himself and it paid off. He led the team in plus/minus, setting a season high mark (see below). John Jenkins is getting more and more comfortable in the offense. It's only a matter of time for him until he's finally to the point where he can use the Commodore offense to his advantage (and my delight). Jeffery Taylor (and others including Lance Goulbourne) did a fantastic job on E.J. Kusnyer, holding one of the top 3 point shooters in the country to 0 points on 0-8 shooting (0-6 from 3).

Mercer apparently played more zone than they had all season (to limit our interior game). Unfortunately for them, they did not win the first ten Vandy opponent lottery when we shot the ball from the perimeter worse than Darius Coulibaly.

I think we should all focus on the positives at this point. Things appear to be heading in the right direction. There's still three more games before we open the SEC slate with Florida at home. I hope the players enjoy their short time off to travel home and come back with the same attitudes they've had over the last week.

Relevant Links: Game Page /// Box Score /// Official Vanderbilt Recap

Plus/Minus (By Game)

Plus/Minus Adjusted Per 40 Minutes (By Game)

Game Stories

Vanderbilt's win draws Kevin Stallings' praise | The Tennessean

Freshman John Jenkins scored a career-high 17 points and Vanderbilt played lock-down defense on one of the nation's top scoring guards to pummel Mercer 99-59 at Memorial Gym on Monday. "I feel a whole lot more comfortable, even from last game," Jenkins said. "I think it's just confidence. I get that going and I feel a whole lot better."

It was one of the team's best all-around efforts of the season and a good note heading into an eight-day layoff for Christmas break. "Our most complete game," Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. "As a staff, we were desperately hoping for a performance like that."

Vanderbilt shooters finally find the range | Nashville City Paper

Stallings maintained a staunch belief right from the start of the season that his was a team that could shoot well from the perimeter. Yet over the course of the first 10 games, Vanderbilt made just 32.8 percent of its 3-point attempts. Its single-game high (nine) required 26 attempts against Division II Chaminade back on Nov. 24. This time, though, Jermaine Beal hit the first attempt 2:16 into the contest. It not only gave the Commodores a 5-2 lead (they led the rest of the way) it set the tone that others eventually followed.

Vanderbilt mauls Mercer, 99-59 | VandySports.com (Rivals)

"Well, that was a little better. It's amazing how things go when you shot the ball well, you make some shots," Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings said after the game. "It kind of gets contagious. Guys start feeding off it, lot of balls start going in. I was really pleased in how we played on the defensive end. Florence is a terrific player and I thought Beal was incredibly good on him. The fact that we were able to get some charges, was really valuable for us. They're a better team than that, it just kind of got snowballing on them and I've been on the other end of that, it's not any fun.

"I was pretty proud of our team, the way we worked. I thought we tried to guard for the entire 40 minutes and we were able to take their three primary scorers and limit them below their averages which is good. We're really pleased with how tonight went, it's pretty good to go into the break with a lot better feeling than we had on Saturday, when we didn't finish. We finished today, which was important."

Vanderbilt bombs Mercer, 99-59 | VandyMania.com (Scout)

Jenkins, who scored a career high 17-points and has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, said that he is getting more comfortable with the system, "I feel a lot more comfortable, especially with Beal playing like he did tonight. It’s good to play off each other as a team because it keeps the momentum going." Stallings attributed Jenkin's success to his becoming more familiar with the offense, "He’s gotten better and started to figure out our offense and how to make it work for him."

Recap: Vanderbilt Commodores 99, Mercer Bears 59 | Dore Posts

Periscope: Vanderbilt vs. Mercer

KingJamesIV — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:58:22 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

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Most casual Commodore fans will be in for a bit of a shock to learn that Mercer should actually be a very good litmus test for the current progress that the Dores have made over the past week.

Though they struggle defensively, Mercer is a competent offensive team. James Florence, their 6'1" PG is currently 8th in the country in scoring at 23.1 ppg, with games of 33, 23, 40, 32 and 25 under his belt already this season. In their last game against Piedmont, E.J. Kusnyer dropped 26 points on 8-10 shooting from 3 point range. As a team, their turnover percentage is low and they are a good rebounding team.

Mercer appears to be capable against good teams: They lost by 2 to Providence, by only 11 to a borderline Top 25 team in Georgia Tech (even out-rebounding the Yellow Jackets). Their biggest victory of the season came against D-III Fisk 110-45 (which certainly is padding some of the efficiency statistics below). Unfortunately for Bears fans, Vanderbilt is not Fisk.

Vanderbilt needs to continue to make slow, steady progress over these next games. They don't have to start proving that they can overachieve tonight. They just need to continue to get better to the point where they aren't underachieving by SEC play. Including tonight, they have four more games to do so. Likewise, Jermaine Beal needs to continue to play like he did against Tennessee State: 7 assists, 0 turnovers, and solid PG defense. When he struggles, so does the team (see: Illinois, Western Kentucky)

Efficiency Breakdown

Traditional Stats - Mercer Bears

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
James Florence	9	31.3	7.8	17.0	45.8	2.4	6.9	35.5	5.1	7.0	73.0	1.0	2.1	3.1	5.1	3.0	2.0	0.1	3.0	23.1
E.J. Kusnyer	9	25.6	4.2	10.1	41.8	3.8	8.9	42.5	1.2	1.7	73.3	1.7	1.9	3.6	0.6	1.1	0.8	0.2	2.4	13.4
Daniel Emerson	9	30.0	4.4	9.8	45.5	0.4	1.2	36.4	2.7	4.3	61.5	4.0	7.6	11.6	1.1	2.4	0.8	0.3	1.8	12.0
Jeff Smith	9	30.9	3.1	8.6	36.4	1.1	3.7	30.3	1.9	2.4	77.3	1.0	2.4	3.4	2.6	2.3	0.6	0.1	1.8	9.2
Brian Mills	9	23.3	3.2	5.2	61.7	0.4	1.3	33.3	1.1	1.3	83.3	2.6	3.4	6.0	1.6	2.2	0.6	0.3	2.7	8.0
Brandon Moore	9	18.2	2.6	4.7	54.8	0.1	0.3	33.3	1.4	2.3	61.9	1.9	2.0	3.9	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.2	2.0	6.7
Michael Jenkins	5	8.4	1.2	3.8	31.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.4	71.4	1.2	1.4	2.6	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.8	3.4
Ridas Pulkauninkas	9	8.8	0.8	2.9	26.9	0.2	2.1	10.5	0.2	0.6	40.0	0.4	0.8	1.2	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.0	0.7	2.0
Chris Smith	7	3.6	0.7	1.7	41.7	0.1	0.3	50.0	0.4	0.7	60.0	0.4	1.4	1.9	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.0	2.0
Tevin Swann	6	6.3	0.5	1.3	37.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.7	75.0	0.0	0.8	0.8	1.2	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.8	1.5
Mark Hall	9	11.2	0.3	2.2	15.0	0.3	2.0	16.7	0.4	0.4	100.0	0.4	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	1.6	1.4
Jake Gollon	7	4.9	0.7	1.4	50.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.9	1.3	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.4	1.4
David O`Shaughnessey	4	5.8	0.5	2.8	18.2	0.3	2.3	11.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.3	1.3
Marquisse Jackson	4	5.0	0.5	1.3	40.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.3	0.5	50.0	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.3
Brendan Walker	7	4.1	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.6	75.0	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.0	0.1	0.4

Stallings mentioned last night on the Call-In Show that the team had a great day of practice yesterday. Usually that bodes well for Vandy. Hopefully Commodore fans will enjoy a nice blowout victory of epic proportions, though I'll settle for around a 12-15 point victory, providing the team plays with passion.

Game Previews

Previewing Vanderbilt vs. Mercer | VandySports.com (Rivals - Premium)

Vanderbilt – Mercer Preview | VandyMania.com (Scout - Premium)

Vanderbilt Welcomes Mercer To Memorial Gym | VANDERBILT OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Vanderbilt men vs. Mercer: Game at a glance | The Tennessean

Make sure to reserve about an hour for the Tennessean's preview. Classic example of density. Another impressive example of the Tennessean's exemplary record of outstanding Vanderbilt coverage.

As always, the open game thread will go live about an hour before tipoff. Don't forget to swing by Stat King to make your selection for the game. You could win yourself one of these:

Poll

Margin of Victory - Vanderbilt vs. Mercer

Vanderbilt by > 20

0 votes

Vanderbilt by 10-20

4 votes

Vanderbilt by < 10

0 votes

Mercer

0 votes

4 votes | Poll has closed

Postgame: Vanderbilt 84, Tennessee State 71

KingJamesIV — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:30:04 -0000

Always glad to get the win.

Festus Ezeli and Darshawn McClellan got the start over A.J. Ogilvy (missed practice time due to plantar fasciitis) and Andre Walker (missed practice time due to illness).

Earlier in the week, Stallings had mentioned that Festus often dominates in practice but had yet to bring that form to live competition. I'm not sure if this game really counts for Festus, considering he had about 8 inches over TSU's tallest player, but he played with fire (particularly in the opening minutes of each half, which in my eyes really set the tone for the team). He was the Commodore Radio Player of the Game, with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block in 19 minutes. What doesn't show up on the stat sheet is that the early block he had in the first two minutes and a half minutes of the game was so intimidating that his presence inside really deterred the Tigers guards from taking the ball into the lane when they were able to break down their Commodore defender. Hopefully this is a sign that the light bulb is beginning to go off for Festus. There are few players in college who can match him physically.

Similarly, there are few players in college who can match Jeffery Taylor. Another solid game for him, with 20 points on 10 for 11 shooting to go along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. 9 of Jeff's 10 made baskets were around the rim. He had a nice step-back 18 footer (such a smooth jumper). I hate to beat a dead horse, but Jeff's shooting percentage needs to drop quite a bit (due to taking more jump shots whenever the defense gives him a cushion). Once he realizes how great a shooter he truly is, he will be devastating and a lottery pick.

A.J. clearly had missed some practice time, but I thought he played well offensively early when the team was really looking for him. Lance Goulbourne played with great effort today and despite missing some practice time this week due to a slight concussion sustained against WKU his minutes remained above his season average of about 10mpg.

It was nice to see John Jenkins come out firing in the first half. His only missed three in the first half was in the closing seconds where he initially caught the ball with room to shoot but hesitated, pumped, then shot off-balance (fortunately A.J. was there to tip the ball in before the buzzer).

Jermaine Beal returned to form. He had 7 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers and despite not shooting that well today from outside, he wasn't forcing bad 3 pointers early in the shot clock. This is exactly what we need from Jermaine.

Brad Tinsley had a very up and down game today. He had 5 assists to go along with 6 turnovers. While Jeff had 5 turnovers as well, Jeff's don't stick with you quite as much as Brad's do. For some reason, he's making some risky decisions that haven't been paying off for the team. Brad is too good of a passer and too important a component for this team not to get this corrected soon.

Relevant Links: Game Page /// TSN Recap /// Box Score /// Official Vanderbilt Recap

During the postgame, Stallings spoke about how he was very happy with the way the team played in the first half. They hustled, played within themselves, and consequently built close to a 20 point lead heading into the half. They started the second half in the same way, but quickly devolved into the turnover machine offensively and the MataDores (pun) defensively that has cost them some winnable games. Stallings description of the second half? "Disgusting." I'd have to agree.

There's a short turnaround for the team, as they have today to prepare for the Mercer game tomorrow.

Plus/Minus

Plus/Minus Adjusted Per 40

Game Stories

Vanderbilt breezes by TSU, 84-71 | VandySports.com (Rivals - Premium)

Bobby's TSU Thoughts | Vanderbilt Sports Line

Recap: Vanderbilt Commodores 84, Tennessee State Tigers 71 | Dore Posts

Vanderbilt has shooter's touch against TSU | The Tennessean

Column: Vanderbilt needs floor leader | The Tennessean

David Climer: Vanderbilt has plenty of talent, but so far lacks someone to step up and take charge of the team.

Taylor's precision powers Vanderbilt past Tennessee State | Nashville City Paper

Commodores run past TSU, 84-71 | VANDERBILT OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

I highly recommend listening to Joe Fisher's post game interview with Coach Stallings at the link above.

Don't forget, the Commodore Call-In Show with Coach Stallings begins tonight at 1830 CST. Join us in an open thread starting 15 minutes before the show starts.

Periscope: Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee State

KingJamesIV — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:11:56 -0000

I'm going to skip past the normal gameday preview formalities. Barring some epic failure on Vandy's part, or some divine miracle on TSU's behalf, the Commodores definitely control their own destiny in this one.

All I wanted to see in the Western Kentucky game was heart. Suffice it to say, my wishes were not fulfilled. Today the Commodores have a chance to atone for that error.

As many Commodore fans know, Coach Stallings is a firm believer that the quality of the teams practices leading up to a game is a very good barometer for how the team will play in that contest. According to various sources, the last week of practice has been intense. As such, I'd like to see the team take a good step forward on defense. Once the team can consistently bring the quality of defense that Stallings expects from them (and they should expect from themselves), the general theory is that the offense will look a lot less constipated.

If the team plays with solid defense with intensity and high effort, Commodore fans should be thrilled. There is still plenty of time to begin to iron out the rest of the issues before conference play begins.

Finally, I wanted to add the plus/minus numbers from the Western Kentucky game.

Plus/Minus Adjusted Per 40 Minutes

Having attended the game, I didn't really get the feeling that Jermaine Beal, A.J. Ogilvy or Lance Goulbourne had played well enough to lead the team. At the time, I did feel that Lance had played well...but he continues to limit himself with chippy or avoidable fouls. Certainly I didn't realize he had played as well as he had. Jeffery Taylor's numbers are more reflective of the other four players with him on the court than they were of his play. Frankly, it's remarkable that he even had a positive number considering he played virtually the entire game (while recovering from illness).

The Open Game Thread will be live around one hour before tipoff (14:00 cst). Please make sure to register your prediction with Stat-King. Go Dores.

Game Stories:

Vanderbilt meets Tennessee State Saturday - VANDERBILT OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Local duo brings TSU much-needed stability | The Tennessean

Vanderbilt – Tennessee State Preview | VandyMania.com (Scout - Premium)

Previewing Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee State | VandySports.com (Rivals - Premium)

Poll

Which will we see?

Commodores (With Defensive Intensity)

1 votes

Impos-dores (Lazy, Porous Defense)

1 votes

2 votes | Poll has closed

Postgame: Illinois 79, #24 Vanderbilt 68

KingJamesIV — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:21:33 -0000

More photos » by Darrell Hoemann - AP

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Firstly, I'd like to congratulate the Fighting Illini. They played hard and with passion. Must be nice.

Feeling a little shellshocked at the moment that Vandy would drop another egg like that after earning their way back into the rankings. It felt like everyone just decided they were going to take the night off tonight.

Steve Tchiengang had the lone block for the Dores. That's a pretty good example of the lack of defensive intensity from the team tonight. On the season, Vandy was averaging close to 6 per game.

Andre Walker was the glue guy again with 9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.

Illinois really shot the ball well. Of course, It sure is easy to do that when the defense is leaving you with a comfortable look at the basket. Even when Vandy would try to go on a run, there'd be a defensive breakdown which would lead to an open look from outside. Illinois had to make them, and they did, with relative ease.

As I said in the preview, Vandy just can't spot teams early points with turnovers and poor shot selection. It's a recipe for disaster, especially while we aren't shooting well from outside. When you couple that with poor defensive intensity, you lose ball games. It just doesn't seem like the team is focused on playing basketball at all.

What Vandy needs right now is a players-only meeting.

Relevant links:

Game Page /// TSN Recap /// Box Score /// Official Vanderbilt Recap

Stallings just now on the post game radio show: "We got less than we needed from Jeff on the road. We got less than we needed from John on the road. We got less than we needed from A.J. Ogilvy on the road. We got less than we needed from Jermaine Beal on the road. I don't think there was a player on our team who played better than just their average. You can't win on the road in a place like Illinois without people playing above themselves."

As I mentioned in the game thread, Jeffery Taylor apparently had been running a fever throughout the day. Also, John Jenkins may have a sprained MCL and was playing with a brace (that conveniently broke during a fast break).

Plus/Minus Updated Through the Illinois game:

Plus/Minus PER 40

In my preview I said that Vanderbilt is the better team statistically and that they should win. This is exactly why games are played. Tonight, Illinois deserved to win.

Periscope: Vanderbilt @ Illinois

KingJamesIV — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:12:20 -0000

More photos » by John Dixon - AP

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Let me paint a picture for you. Thursday, November 20th, 2008. Illinois enters Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt leads by 5 with 10 minutes to play. Demetri McCamey and Trent Meachem combine for 9 threes. Illinois hands Vanderbilt it's first loss of the season.

The Illinois game serves as a pretty good nutshell of the Commodores 2009 season. In a year when Vandy had 5 freshmen average significant minutes (2 being starters), they couldn't handle adversity and often withered down the stretch.

What a difference a year makes. The 2010 Vanderbilt team seems to thrive when facing adversity. Though they still haven't put together a complete game offensively, they are winning in the trenches.

The Illini 2010 stats are fairly impressive, until you really start to look at their schedule. The toughest team they've played so far has been Clemson, a game they won in which Clemson shamefully gave away its 23 point lead. Clemson and Vandy are pretty similar in terms of offensive and defensive efficiencies. According to Ken Pomeroy, Clemson's offensive efficiency is 110.9. Vanderbilt's is 111.9. Clemson's defensive efficiency is 87.3. Vanderbilt's is 88.9. Clemson is the only team Illinois has faced thus far with an offensive efficiency above 110. Vandy has already faced St. Mary's (OffEff 117.1 - @ McKeon Pavilion no less) and Missouri (OffEff 114.6). The Illini's offensive efficiency is 110.9. In fact, excluding Chaminade (game doesn't count in these numbers) Vandy has yet to face a team with an offensive efficiency below 100. Illinois has faced three below 90.

Despite the weak offensive opponents, the Illini defensive efficiency is a mediocre 97.1. On the other hand, Vanderbilt's defensive efficiency is a stout 88.9, especially when you take into consideration the solid offensive teams Vanderbilt has faced.

Looking at the defenses each team has faced, half of Illinois' opponents have defensive efficiencies above 100 (not good - this is a measure of points scored per 100 possessions). Vanderbilt has only faced 1 team with a defensive efficiency over 100. Considering the stringent defenses, Vanderbilt's offense efficiency is all the more impressive.

Here is the breakdown of all these numbers (all taken from Ken Pomeroy):

TSN Preview

Strong defense has been key to Illinois' success thus far, as the team has been able to limit opponents to 65.6 ppg on 40.6 percent shooting from the field. The Illini are also outrebounding foes by nearly seven boards per contest, and they are racking up 79.2 ppg. Mike Davis is one of five double- digit scorers for Illinois, as he is generating 13.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg. Demetri McCamey provides 12.6 ppg, and Brandon Paul checks in with 12.3 ppg. Mike Tisdale (10.9 ppg) and D.J. Richardson (10.6 ppg) round out the balanced Illinois attack. In Saturday's triumph over Boise State, all five starters reached double figures in scoring, paced by McCamey's 23-point outburst. The Illini shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the second half to hold off the Broncos.

In what figures to be a close game from start to finish, give a narrow edge to the home team. The balance of the Illini at the offensive end will be the difference.

Statistical Breakdown:

Commodore Keys

Come to Play - Two weeks ago after Vandy was first ranked in the polls, they laid an egg against Cincinnati. For whatever reason, they didn't bring the effort and intensity that you need to win when you have a target on your back. As the team hopefully learned, you have to take advantage of the extra coverage and media attention that a Top 25 ranking affords.
Limit Turnovers - The team is clearly very good at scoring the ball when they don't turn it over. Although they may not be scoring "pretty", opposing teams are having lots of trouble stopping Vandy from putting the ball through the hoop. You don't win on the road in a hostile environment without taking care of the ball. It stands to reason that Coach Weber has probably been focusing on team defense in practices lately. The last thing the Commodores want is to help build the Illini's defensive confidence by giving up a bunch of early, careless turnovers.
Rebound Like You Want It - When this team puts forth a full effort on the boards, they've been absolutely dominating. They were a good rebounding team last season, so I'm hopeful that the poor numbers early in the season were a reflection of A.J. Ogilvy still working his way back from the concussion and from lack of focus. Limiting second chance points from offensive boards is particularly important. I want to see this team continue to win the offensive rebounding margin.

Jermaine Beal really had a poor game against DePaul on Saturday. Considering they Illini are relying pretty heavily on some freshman guards, it will be imperative for Jermaine to play his game. Foul trouble was the biggest problem for him on Saturday, so I don't see why he won't return to form against Illinois.

One other thing I would like to see tonight would be Jeffery Taylor sniping some lazy freshman passes between those guards, giving Vandy some easy transition dunks. He's going to draw the assignment on one of them, most likely Brandon Paul. Showcase yourself, Jeff.

John Jenkins Update:

Apparently John practiced yesterday prior to the team leaving for Illinois. Hopefully he will be able to play without much trouble from any lingering pain.

Gameday Links:

Vanderbilt's top scorer also talks good game | The Tennessean

"I grew up bilingual," Taylor said. "And usually if you live in Europe you learn the neighboring languages, so I know Danish and Norwegian. They're kind of similar. "Then I know a little Bosnian, Yugoslavian, Serbian … and bits and pieces of other languages I picked up along the way. I have a lot of Bosnian friends in Sweden that were refugees from the war down there." Taylor was even able to surprise Lipscomb junior Adnan Hodzic, a Bosnian native, with a conversion in his native language before their Nov. 16 game at Memorial Gym.

Ogilvy earns SEC weekly award with eye-opening performances | Nashville City Paper

Ogilvy had team-highs of 13 points and seven rebounds last season against Illinois, a game the Commodores lost 69-63. "They’re good, and they’re extremely well-coached," Stallings said of Illinois. "… They’ve got good players, and they have three guys we played a lot against last year with a couple freshmen who are outstanding players. "… We’ll have to be real solid and real tight if we want to get done there what we want to get done."

Coach Bruce Weber emphasizes Illinois needs to play better defense | chicagotribune.com

A man out of position here, a misguided steal attempt there and a team that still is trying to jell after losing its defensive leader from a year ago. Put it all together and you get a defensive output like the one Illinois had in its closer-than-it-should-have-been 84-77 victory Saturday night over Boise State.

VSL Gets You Ready: Vanderbilt Travels to Champaign | Vanderbilt Sports Line

Preview: Vanderbilt - Illinois | Dore Posts

Previewing Vanderbilt at Illinois | VandySports.com (Rivals - Premium)

Scouting Report: Illinois | VandyMania.com (Scout - Premium)

Check out Hail to the Orange for their take on this important Big Ten/SEC Matchup.

As always, post your predictions below and make sure to head over to Stat-King to vote on who you think will be the best performing Commodore against the Fighting Illini. Also, stop by our open game thread which opens an hour before tipoff.

Poll

Vanderbilt Commodores (+4) @ Illinois Fighting Illini -- Who wins?

Vanderbilt by 5 or more

4 votes

Vanderbilt by 4 or less

5 votes

Illinois by 4 or less

3 votes

Illinois by 5 or more

3 votes

15 votes | Poll has closed

Periscope: Vanderbilt vs. DePaul

KingJamesIV — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:57:01 -0000

More photos » by Brennan Linsley - AP

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Considering the dreadful season DePaul had last year, the Blue Demons have begun their 2010 season in a much better fashion at 5-1. Seeing that DePaul won 9 games all last season and none during Big East conference play, College Basketball experts took notice when DePaul went toe-to-toe with Tennessee in a 57-53 Paradise Jam semi-finals loss.

Unfortunately for DePaul, a left foot injury to junior big man Mac Koshwal (6'11", 255lbs, 15ppg, 13rpg) leaves him sidelined for a few weeks, leaving DePaul noticeably thin in the middle. This wasn't too much of an issue in their last game, a victory over Alabama State, but it should figure much more glaringly against AJ Ogilvy and Vanderbilt.

TSN Preview

DePaul has won its last three games to move to 5-1 overall, and the most recent triumph came over Alabama State on Wednesday by a 58-50 final. The fact that no opponent has scored more than 57 points against the Blue Demons in a regulation game this season speaks to the strength of the club's defense. The lone loss came against Tennessee back on November 22nd by four points.

Interesting Note: Three days after defeating Missouri - "The Fastest 40 Minutes In Basketball" - Vanderbilt faces the second slowest-paced team (58.3 possessions/game [adjusted] - 346 of 347 teams) in DePaul. Where Missouri wants to push the tempo, wear down an opponent, and cause turnovers, DePaul makes up for it's deficiencies by slowing things down and eliminating opportunities to score. With such a slow pace, it's no wonder DePaul limits teams to 55 ppg, good enough for 6th overall.

Statistical Breakdown:

Keep in mind that Mac Koshwal has starter-type numbers and is being grouped with the bench players in that analysis. So what does that graph tell us? Vandy is much more efficient with the ball offensively (when adjusted for the contrasting tempos) and is slightly more efficient defensively.

You don't really need to look at statistics to see that Vandy is a pretty heavy favorite in this game. Vegas lines opened with Vanderbilt as a 17 point home favorite.

Commodore Keys

Offensive Movement - The slower paced Blue Demons will give the Dores an opportunity to really work the half-court offense. In the first few games, after the opposing team would stop the Vanderbilt primary and secondary breaks, the offense felt stagnant. Players away from the ball didn't seem to be helping out the ball-handler by getting into position for an uncontested pass. I'm sure a large part of this was due to Missouri's pressure defense. I think it's about time this team began to assert its will offensively.
3 Point Shooting - In the season opener against Lipscomb, Stallings mentioned that he thought 41% was a subpar evening. On paper, that's definitely the case. Jermaine Beal, Brad Tinsley, and John Jenkins are all outstanding outside shooters. However, in games the team is only hitting on 34% of their outside shots (37 of 109). I have to attribute this to the stagnancy in the offense. Move the ball effectively in the half-court sets and shots are bound to start falling with the success rate that Vandy fans have been expecting.
Eliminate Turnovers - You cannot turn the ball over when you know that is the #1 action item on your opponents game plan. When Vanderbilt took care of the ball, Missouri had trouble stopping the offense and creating offensive opportunities on the other end. Halve the turnovers and Vandy wins that game by 20.

It sure will be nice to watch this team begin to play to their potential. It's just a matter of time until they begin to realize how good they can truly be. I see no reason why that can't happen against DePaul.

Gameday Links:

Stallings wants 'Dores to learn to hold a lead | Nashville City Paper

"For us to stay steady, stay composed and everybody keep our calm – it was important for us (Wednesday) night," senior guard Jermaine Beal said. "I guess you could say everybody on our team is more mature. Last year, a game like that our team probably would have folded or lost. Who knows?"

MBB Welcomes DePaul To Memorial Gym | VANDERBILT OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Preview: Vanderbilt - DePaul | Dore Posts

DePaul Travels to Vanderbilt for Saturday Matinee | DePaul Athletics

I'll update this post with any other game stories I find that are published tomorrow morning.

Updated Gameday Links:

DePaul's Coming to Memorial: VSL Gets You Ready | Vanderbilt Sports Line

Previewing DePaul at Vanderbilt | VandySports.com (Rivals - Premium)

Demons Begone! Vanderbilt vs. DePaul Preview | VandyMania (Scout)

Vanderbilt men trying to work out kinks | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

"If you look at their scores, they're playing games in the 50s," Stallings said. "They're going to try to get you to be impatient and get you to play defense for a long period of time. And then hopefully when you get the ball on offense, you lose your patience and then you give it back to them quickly.

Basketball bites heading into the DePaul game at Vanderbilt | The Tennessean

Another 2004 flash back: Matt Freiji is a Commodore and goes for back-to-back games with a double-double. Maybe it doesn't seem all that big a feat, but no other Vander bilt pla yer pos ted a double-double stat line in consecutive games until sophomore forward Jeffery Taylor did it Wednesday with 18 points and 11 boards. He went for 13 and 10 against Arizona.

As always, post your predictions below and make sure to head over to Stat-King to vote on who you think will be the best performing Commodore against the Blue Demons.

Poll

What will the winning margin be?

Vanderbilt by more than 10

5 votes

Vanderbilt by 10 or less

2 votes

DePaul by 10 or less

1 votes

DePaul by more than 10

1 votes

9 votes | Poll has closed

Postgame: Vanderbilt 89, Missouri 83

KingJamesIV — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:03:29 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Browse more photos »

I must say that despite how uncomfortable Missouri made the final five minutes of this game for the Commodores, I never truly felt that Vandy was going to let them steal this one. Give Missouri and Coach Anderson credit. Despite being in a hostile atmosphere down 14 points with 5:29 left to play, they never stopped giving their full effort or believing in themselves and nearly came away with a hard-fought road victory as a result.

Elmer's Glue Guy Of The Game

Andre Walker (6 pts, 12 rebs, 4 asts, 3 blks, 2 stls)

Relevant Links:

Game Page /// TSN Recap /// Box Score /// Official Vanderbilt Recap

Game Stories:

Commodores shake off road woes, fend off Missouri rally | Nashville City Paper

Missouri managed just three offensive rebounds in the first half and one in the first 14-plus minutes of the second. The one-and-done approach had a lot to do with the fact that Vanderbilt stretched a six-point halftime lead to 78-64 after an Ogilvy put-back.

Vanderbilt manages to beat Missouri | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

"I didn't think if we turned the ball over 24 times against them we would win," Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. "We didn't play great, but that's because of them. They force you to play in a way that you're not accustomed to playing."

What was Impressive

Vanderbilt Free Throw Shooting - Prior to last night's game, Vanderbilt's FT% was 65.3% on the season. That is uncharacteristic for a Vanderbilt team and certainly not representative of the capabilities of the players. Against Missouri, Vandy FT% was 83.9%, and their FTRate was 53.4% (they converted 53.4% of their field goal attempts into free throw opportunities). John Jenkins was clutch down the stretch, nailing perhaps the biggest free throws of his basketball career.
Jeffery Taylor - His plus/minus below says it all. He is emerging as our best player. He really minimized one of his weaknesses thus far, turnovers, by having only 1 against one of the best teams in the nation at forcing them. His defense is outstanding. So long as he steps on the court in a Vanderbilt uniform, he will almost always be the most athletic player on the court. As soon as he realizes that, and begins to trust in his silky-smooth jumpshot, he will be impossible to defend. Trust in yourself, Jeff! Just watch the dunk in the highlights. Trust me.
Rebounding - Considering Vandy had been out-rebounded by 4.8 rebounds per game over the first five games, it was nice to see a +21 rebounding margin. Vandy even had 15 offensive rebounds to Missouri's 17 defensive rebounds! Quite the improvement. As Andre Walker said after the game, "I think as long as you make a conscientious effort all the time to hit somebody, you can get rebounds."
Mike Anderson - This was my first occasion to observe Missouri's head coach from the stands. I must say that I came away quite impressed with him. Missouri made an outstanding hire and I hope they do everything they can to hang on to him. Coach Anderson never seemed anything but confident and cool. Clearly this filters down to his players. I was very impressed.

Areas of Concern

Turnovers - 24 of them to be precise. The season average was 15.6 (still too high). Jermaine Beal had 4 and Brad Tinsley had 6. Not good. Sure, Missouri forces more turnovers per game than most teams, but the players can't exactly say the coaches didn't address this leading up to the game.
Half-Court Offense - The team really appears to be stagnant when forced to run their half-court offense. There doesn't seem to be very much movement away from the ball. I would very much like to see this improve over the next few games. I've got a feeling some half-court flow would do wonders for our current 3-point FG%, as the players individually are much better outside shooters than 34%.

Plus/Minus through the Missouri game:

Post your game reaction below.

Know Your (Temporary) Rival: Vanderbilt Commodores

Bill C. — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:00:15 -0000

By most accounts, Vanderbilt is probably a better overall team than anybody Mizzou has faced this season, including Richmond. Does that mean a loss is in store for the Tigers, or do they match up pretty well with the Commodores? Let's find out.

Vanderbilt: 4-1

	VU	Opp
Points Per Minute	1.89	1.62
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.06	0.91
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.30	1.03
2-PT FG%	51.8%	39.8%
3-PT FG%	34.8%	33.7%
FT%	65.3%	61.6%
True Shooting %	55.3%	45.8%

	VU	Opp
Assists/Gm	11.2	11.0
Steals/Gm	7.4	6.6
Turnovers/Gm	15.6	16.8
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.19	1.05

	VU	Opp
Expected Offensive Rebounds	62	75
Offensive Rebounds	58	86
Difference	-4	+1

VU's season thus far:

@Vandy 95, Lipscomb 73
Vandy 72, @St. Mary's 70
Cincinnati 67, Vandy 58 (in Maui)
Vandy 68, Chaminade 41 (in Maui)
Vandy 84, Arizona 72 (in Maui)

Where the Commodores are solid

They are efficient shooters--none of their overall percentages are that great, but anything at 1.30 points per shot or better is solid, and that probably means they get to the line quite a bit. Playing on the road, against a team good at drawing fouls (even if they're not great FT shooters), usually isn't a good combination for Mizzou.

They also play good defense, especially around the basket. Holding opponents to under 40% on 2-point shots is a difficult accomplishment, but the 'Dores have pulled it off so far this season (I'm sure the game against Chaminade didn't hurt their percentages, but still). That also doesn't bode well for Mizzou, considering how poorly they shot 2-pointers (and 3-pointers) in South Padre.

Where the Commodores are less than solid

Vandy plays at a faster-than-average pace, which gives them a few more opportunities for turnovers, but 15.6 is still too many. Mizzou thrives on the BCI concept, and Vandy is only average at best at that game. Since the Commodores are prone to moving relatively quickly, Mizzou might have a shot in this game by speeding them up faster than they're comfortable going, forcing turnovers, and creating easy scoring opportunities. This probably isn't a game Mizzou can win in the halfcourt.

For a team with decent size (they have seven guys of 6'7 or taller in the rotation), they sure don't rebound very well. It's not a huge weakness, but they are basically -1.0 rebound per game in terms of expected rebounds. Mizzou has held its own on the boards so far, and putbacks (hello, Laurence Bowers) could be another opportunity for easy points.

In the end, this game presents some very interesting matchups -- it appears both that Vandy is capable of taking advantage of Mizzou's weaknesses, and Mizzou is capable of taking advantage of Vandy's.

Player Stats

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player	*AdjGS/Gm**	GmSc/Min	Line
Jermaine Beal (6'3, 205, Sr.)	17.2	0.54	31.8 MPG, 15.4 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.8 RPG, 1.6 SPG
Jeffery Taylor (6'7, 210, So.)	15.9	0.58	27.2 MPG, 14.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 1.2 APG, 3.0 TOPG
A.J. Ogilvy (6'11, 250, Jr.)	12.2	0.53	22.8 MPG, 10.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.6 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.8 TOPG
Andre Walker (6'7, 220, So.)	9.0	0.38	24.0 MPG, 7.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.8 TOPG
John Jenkins (6'4, 215, Fr.)	7.3	0.36	20.4 MPG, 9.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Brad Tinsley (6'3, 210, So.)	3.8	0.15	25.6 MPG, 5.4 PPG, 3.4 APG, 1.4 RPG, 2.8 TOPG
Lance Goulbourne (6'8, 225, So.)	3.3	0.33	10.0 MPG, 3.6 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Darshawn McClellan (6'7, 240, Jr.)	2.5	0.20	12.4 MPG, 3.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Steve Tchiengang (6'9, 240, So.)	1.5	0.18	8.4 MPG, 3.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Festus Ezeli (6'11, 255, So.)	1.3	0.12	11.2 MPG, 2.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.6 BPG
Jordan Smart (6'6, 180, Fr.)	0.9	0.45	2.0 MPG
Chris Meriwether (6'0, 180, Sr.)	0.0	0.00	2.0 MPG
Aaron Noll (6'7, 220, So.)	-0.1	-0.03	2.0 MPG
Charles Hinkle (6'6, 195, So.)	-0.5	-0.13	3.8 MPG, 0.8 PPG
Joe Duffy (6'8, 225, Jr.)	-0.5	-0.24	2.0 MPG

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It redistributes a team's points based not only on points scored, but also by giving credit for assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls. It is a stat intended to determine who had the biggest overall impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

Vandy's top five players are from Texas, Sweden, Australia, Illinois and Tennessee. Throw in a Nigerian (Ezeli), a Kentuckian (Noll), a Brooklynite (Goulbourne), a couple of Californians (McClellan and Hinkle), and a Cameroon...ian (Tchiengang), and you wonder what they must talk about during downtime. (Then again, this is Vandy, so they're probably talking about how hard their classes are, huh?)
For the most part, this team is based around three rock solid players -- Beal, Taylor, Ogilvy -- and a deep cast of role players. They've got a couple of shot blockers (Ogilvy, Ezeli), a couple of fearless long-distance shooters (Beal, Jenkins...notice I didn't necessarily say "great" long-distance shooters), a couple of well-rounded scorers (Beal, Taylor), a good passer (Tinsley), and in the end, everything you need to have to be successful.
Ogilvy in particular presents Mizzou with another interesting test. Thus far, they have fared pretty well against bigger players, but Ogilvy is a particularly rugged player who puts numbers in the box score despite the lack of what you would consider a true big man's numbers (he shoots under 50% from the field, grabs an only decent 0.25 rebounds per minute, has only five offensive rebounds in five games, etc.). Taylor is the more active (and better) big man, and he is more to the size of Keith Ramsey, Bowers, etc., but Ogilvy is a unique matchup.

Keys to the Game

Fouls. As is often the case when Mizzou is playing on the road, how the game is called will go a long way in determining how good a chance Mizzou has. They probably can't beat Vandy playing a halfcourt game right now, so they'll need easy buckets ... which means they need to trap and bump and get in the passing lanes, and if the refs allow for physical play, they'll have a very good shot to win. If they're calling ticky-tack fouls, Mizzou will lose by 15-20 (with Vandy probably pulling away late with free throws).
Pace. Unlike Richmond or Old Dominion, the Commodores probably will not try to take the air out of the ball, take 9.5 seconds to get across halfcourt every trip, etc. They are content to play relatively fast, and that could be a good thing for Mizzou. If they are not consciously trying to slow things down, Mizzou might be able to bait them into picking up the pace faster and faster. If this game is 70 possessions or lower, Vandy probably wins; but if Mizzou can up that to the 73-80 range, they will have a very good chance of escaping Nashville at 5-1.
Rebounds. For their size, Vandy is not a great rebounding team; if Mizzou wins the battle of the boards and gets more second chances than the Commodores, they will give themselves a much better shot at the upset, especially considering how poorly they shot first-chance shots last week.

Prediction

There is a clear path to victory for Mizzou here, and it rests on their ability to push the tempo, avoid fouls and grab rebounds. Still, it wouldn't be tremendously smart to put a lot of money on Mizzou right now. Even though I'm not too worried about this team long-term (yet), this isn't a game Mizzou should be expected to win. Vanderbilt 71, Missouri 66.

Big Blue Daily Mail -- A Little Football, a Little Schadenfreude

Truzenzuzex — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:30:55 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

Well, who did you think was going to be featured here? Exactly.

Browse more photos »

The Kentucky vs. Louisiana-Monroe game yesterday will be the main focus of this edition, but we will be throwing in a bit of other good stuff on this beautiful Sunday morning here in the Bluegrass state.

I think it's safe to say that, despite the lopsided 36-13 score, most Wildcat football fans are far less than totally pleased with the play of the 'Cats yesterday, as are the coaches. It seems that in the third quarter, the UK team just decided to take fifteen minutes of football off, and let ULM roll up yardage all over the field and fail to offend anyone but their own fans.

In the end, though, it was a victory that was never really in doubt, and in the end, that's pretty much what everyone would expect. In a way, this is better than a flawless victory, because it gives Brooks & Co. plenty of film to view, and lots of pins to pop any swell-headedness that may have been emerging on the team. And then there is the Micah Johnson injury, which Brooks says isn't major, but it isn't minor, either.

Now, for the news:

UK Basketball News

Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting - Meyer's Mailbag: Duke class could be great
Who would rank higher?

I was wanting to know who would be ranked higher out of high school- Samardo Samuels or Demarcus Cousins?

Read the answer above.
MaryJo Perino " Wall Situation
Don’t you find it interesting that the story that came out yesterday involved both UK’s Wall and Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney… both battling eligibility questions… yet Sidney was barely touched in the report… and the headline on the front of ESPN.com is ‘SEC Commish: UK vetting star recruit’s eligibility’

This is a good point I hadn't really considered. Sidney, as far as I know, has much more serious questions about where some real money came from, his parents lifestyle, etc.
Danny Jett's Inner Circle: The Immortals: UK's 25 'Legends' # 2
The C-J's Sunday College Basketball Notebook | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
"Derrick and Tyreke took longer to feel this offense," Calipari said. "John right now is probably farther along today than they were. But I'll say this: Those two, when they got it and they felt the offense, they were, one, unleashed, but two, they weren't afraid to make the play. Now, I haven't coached John (enough) to tell you, if we're in a tough game and it's on the road, is he going to go make the play that those two made? I have no idea."

High praise for Wall coming from Calipari.
Clifton at center of Wall investigation - High school - News & Observer
Duke freshman forward Ryan Kelly, a Raleigh native who played at Ravenscroft, was Wall's teammate on the club team for at least three years.

Kelly's mother, Doreen Kelly, said Ryan's amateur eligibility and academic credentials have been approved by the NCAA. She said she hasn't been contacted by the NCAA regarding Ryan's eligibility and doesn't expect to be.

After having read this article, I am even more confused. Why is Kelly in the clear? If Clifton paid for Wall's trip to UK, it was surely with D-One funds. So why is it OK for Kelly to accept D-One funds for playing from an agent, but not Wall? And why is the UK unofficial visit somehow different?

We may never know, but something seems amiss ...
This Week in Review...10 Years Ago
Wall practices with Kentucky in front of students a day after report questions his eligibility - KRCW
Preseason Q&A with FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman - Searching for Billy Edelin
8. Your premature surprise team of the season... Vanderbilt. The Commodores have one of the most underrated coaches in the nation in Kevin Stallings. A.J. Ogilvy gives Vandy a low-post scoring option and now Stallings added a big-time freshman shooter in John Jenkins. Throw in solid senior point guard Jermaine Beal and athletic wing Jeffery Taylor and I think this team can surprise some people in the loaded SEC East.

I like TLT Jeff Goodman's pick here -- I think Vanderbilt will be very, very good.
Star UK Freshman John Wall May Face Suspension from NCAA - SB Nation
Now after bashing Andrew Sharp about the SEC, I must praise him for his fairness to UK. But I must reject the implicit notion that Pat Forde has some kind of a special dislike for Kentucky. It seems that way, but let's be real -- Forde last and longest sportswriting stint was in Kentucky (Louisville) and even if he may harbor Cardinal sympathies and be Rick Pitino's ghost writer, I am highly dubious that he harbors ill will toward UK (although I am willing to be persuaded otherwise).

In all honesty, the ESPN article by Forde and Dana O'Neil (now there is a woman who would be justified in having an axe to grind with UK after the way Gillispie treated her) presents nothing but relevant facts and draws no conclusions. It's headline, as Sharp points out, is a bit misleading.

I also highly doubt that Forde (or O'Neil, for that matter) hates Calipari. Nobody hates Calipari (except, of course, fans of former schools and several rival coaches) -- he's just too hard to dislike. Like all people who write for a living, Forde knows perfectly well that columns critical of Coach Cal will garner millions of hits and blog links, make him look independent of his Kentucky roots, and no matter what the color of his school of preference may be, his favorite color is most likely green.
Wildcat Blue In a Sea of Orange: Adreian Payne drops Kansas, plus latest on Lamb and Harris
It does appear that big man Adreian Payne is getting closer to making his decision as he canceled his upcoming visit to Kansas and booted the Jayhawks from his list. Payne is now down to a final four of Kentucky, West Virginia, Arizona, and Michigan State. It appears that the leaders are Kentucky and West Virginia right now and pundits think it could go either way.
Wildcat Coal Lodge? | KentuckySports.com
This is liable to generate quite a bit of snarky comment. Well, whatever.
Former UK player Mark Pope starting a new career at Georgia | Vaught's Views
Awesome. Lots of ex-UK players on coaching staffs around the SEC this year.

UK Football News

With Hartline out, Cats plan to stick with quarterback trio | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
"I think what we're going to see is a continuation of using both (Newton and Fidler) and mixing in the wildcat," Brooks said. "We're just trying to win football games. I wish it were easier and I wish somebody would go out there and say, ‘Hey, I'm going to complete every pass and I'm going to do all the right things,' but it doesn't work that way."

Well, to be fair, this whole three-headed quarterback thing is only two games old, and it has worked okay. Still, with MSU coming in next Saturday, we will need a better performance from it than we got vs ULM.
Big Blue Loyalty: The chase is on | KentuckySports.com
Nice. We do have some pretty loyal football fans for a basketball school.
QB plan is working, but needs work | KentuckySports.com
So far, UK's three-headed quarterback platoon has managed to spit in the eye of pigskin convention.

"We've made some mistakes but we're 2-0 in that situation," said Kentucky tri-quarterback Will Fidler. "So you have to say it is going pretty well."

Well, I would like to see Newton use his legs a bit more, and Fidler, well, not. Cobb should see a few more snaps in the Wildcat than he did last night, in my opinion.

Other UK Sports News

Quigley Qualifies for Quarterfinals at ITA Ohio Valley Regional - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

NCAA Sports News

Our Top 25 is out -- and now what? - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
Phew. After 5,500 words, several revisions and agonizing over teams 23, 24 and 25, the 2009-10 college hoops is finally finished. You can read it all here.

I tended to favor experienced teams who returned a lot of their players, with some exceptions
Convinced yet? No. 10 TCU trounces No. 16 BYU - College football- nbcsports.msnbc.com
TCU is a really good team, but looking at their strength of schedule, they will likely be playing Boise State in the "We coulda been a contendah!" bowl. The only team likely to give them a game remaining on their schedule is 6-1 Utah. Right now, their SOS is #52, and it will only go downhill from here.
Auburn continues to struggle with penalties - Sports - Ledger-Enquirer.com
Their penalties Saturday came early and often. The Tigers were lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their 48 on the opening drive. But right tackle Andrew McCain flinched, pushing them back 5 yards and forcing a punt.

Wow. Penalties kill Auburn again.
No. 6 Boise State batters Hawaii, stays perfect - College football- nbcsports.msnbc.com
And will probably stay #6, or even start losing ground. Eventually, that schedule strength will be their bugaboo, as so many times in the past.
Opinion: Iowa's thrilling ride won't end in BCS title game - College football- nbcsports.msnbc.com
If the Hawkeyes keep doing what they're doing, they'll earn Big Ten championship rings and a permanent place in school lore. They might get another spot in history, too — next to Auburn's 2004 team as a perfect, BCS conference squad that didn't get a chance to play for it all.

Interesting, and very probably true.
Florida's win leaves Tebow speechless - SEC - ESPN
And then after the game, which No. 1 Florida hung on and won 29-19 despite repeated woes in the red zone and a determined effort by Dan Mullen's Bulldogs, Tebow declined to talk to the media for the first time in his career.

How very un-Superman-like.
No doubt about it — Baton Rouge, LA
Sparked by an energized offense and a suffocating defense in the first half, the No. 9-ranked Tigers trampled Auburn 31-10 Saturday, expunging whatever remained of the bad taste from a home loss to Florida two weeks earlier.

So much for my theory that Auburn would make a comeback in this game.
Saturday Lessons: October 24 - Team Speed Kills
Positive Thinking and SEC Basketball - SB Nation
Bah. Add likely locks Florida and South Carolina, and you have six. Arkansas has a good shot, that makes seven, and Ole Miss is another very likely dancer. LSU? With Trent Johnson at the helm, you never know. That's easily eight.

Face it guys. The SEC is good. At everything. Except field hockey, rowing, and all those other huge sports that the Ivy League and East Coasters seem so fond of. So if you're going to come at us in basketball this year, you'd better come more correctly than this.
Scheduling Patsies Works (Except When It Doesn't) - SB Nation
Schedule Nazis (just kidding, guys) will love this piece by Spencer Hall (aka Orson Swindle of EDSBS).

Other News of Interest

None today

The Daily Schadenfreude

Duke provides video ammo for its haters - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
But why the hate? Well, everyone has their reasons. Maybe the players are smug, maybe it’s the fans, maybe it’s because Duke seemingly gets preferential treatment from the refs and the media. But a casual fan may not get it. And maybe you don’t want to explain it to them.

Read the whole thing, click the links, and remember why you hate Duke. As if you need a reminder.
Duke fansite blogs on the "difference between John Wall and Ryan Kelly", challenges anyone to find dirt on Kelly
Paul Jordan takes a bit more time to mock Duke Basketball Report's recent nonsense than I did.

SB Nation - Jermaine Beal

Postgame: Vanderbilt 99, Mercer 59

Periscope: Vanderbilt vs. Mercer

Margin of Victory - Vanderbilt vs. Mercer

Vanderbilt by > 20

Vanderbilt by 10-20

Vanderbilt by < 10

Mercer

Postgame: Vanderbilt 84, Tennessee State 71

Periscope: Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee State

Which will we see?

Commodores (With Defensive Intensity)

Impos-dores (Lazy, Porous Defense)

Postgame: Illinois 79, #24 Vanderbilt 68

Periscope: Vanderbilt @ Illinois

Vanderbilt Commodores (+4) @ Illinois Fighting Illini -- Who wins?

Vanderbilt by 5 or more

Vanderbilt by 4 or less

Illinois by 4 or less

Illinois by 5 or more

Periscope: Vanderbilt vs. DePaul

What will the winning margin be?

Vanderbilt by more than 10

Vanderbilt by 10 or less

DePaul by 10 or less

DePaul by more than 10

Postgame: Vanderbilt 89, Missouri 83

Know Your (Temporary) Rival: Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt: 4-1

Player Stats

Keys to the Game

Prediction

Big Blue Daily Mail -- A Little Football, a Little Schadenfreude

Top Stories

UK Basketball News

UK Football News

Other UK Sports News

NCAA Sports News

Other News of Interest

The Daily Schadenfreude