Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The (8-6) Vanderbilt Commodores and (12-2) Missouri Tigers are set to square up on the hardwood Saturday at Mizzou Arena. Vandy, 1-0 in SEC competition, defeated South Carolina 84-79 in their last game. Mizzou, 1-1 in conference play, lost to Arkansas on Wednesday.
Vanderbilt defeated Missouri 70-62 in their lone meeting last season. The Tigers hold a 7-5 advantage in the series history.
Tip-off from Columbia, MO, is at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Vanderbilt has won three straight, including its first Southeastern Conference game of the season. The Commodores went 7-5 in non-conference play, picking up wins over Pitt and Temple. Vandy was picked to finish 12th in the SEC preseason media poll.
The Dores beat USC in overtime on Tuesday, as reserves Ezra Manjon (24 points) and Liam Robbins (22 points) carried the team to victory. While they shot just 22-for-35 from the free-throw line, the Commodores went 12 for 15 from the charity stripe in overtime. Vanderbilt's bench accounted for 64 points.
?? views from the win in the SEC opener pic.twitter.com/Z0GzAhcnqO
— Vanderbilt Men's Basketball (@VandyMBB) January 4, 2023
The Commodores score 70.9 points per game and shoot 43.3 percent from the field, including 33.5 percent from three-point range. Their schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency rating is 98th in D-1, per KenPom, and their assist-to-turnover ratio (1.01) is 149th.
The 7-foot senior forward Robbins paces Vanderbilt with 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest. The Dores also count on solid play from junior forward Myles Stute (11.0 PPG and 5.3 RPG), junior guard Tyrin Lawrence (10.4 PPG and 3.3 RPG), and senior guard Jordan Wright (9.8 PPG and 4.3 RPG).
Vanderbilt surrenders 66.9 points per game, and its opponents shoot 41.4 percent from the floor, including 29.9 percent from distance. Its schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency rating is ranked 125th nationally.