Vanderbilt came up short against Missouri on Wednesday night. They were down 21 at one point, but came back. Still, they fell 81-80, while Vanderbilt was missing some key players. Those players missing could have played a role in the loss, but some of their offensive play also contributed.
Vanderbilt went 8-22 on layups in the one-point loss, and head coach Mark Byington was stunned by the stat, according to Michael Stamps of Sports Illustrated.
“I'm smiling. I didn't know that stat yet. Oh my gosh,” the Vandy coach said after learning the stat.
Vanderbilt shot just 43 percent from the field, going 28 of 65, but the team did shoot well from three and the free-throw line. Vandy hit ten of 25 three-point attempts while also going 14 of 18 from the stripe. This shows the up-and-down nature of the game for the Dores.
“It was a game where the highs were high, and the lows were low. We actually started the game very well. We executed. We got stops, and then the offense got really tough for us. Then, we let the offense get in the way of our defense there. To get down 21, we were just out of character. We were on offense, and I didn't recognize some things we were doing. On defense, we were making mistakes. You hope you'll snap out of it. We did a little too late, but an incredible fight to get back,” Byington said after the game accoridng to Billy Derrick on 247Sports.
It was a lot of self-inflicted wounds that hurt Vanderbilt. They committed 11 turnovers that led to 18 points for Missouri. Meanwhile, they sent the Tigers to the free-throw line 32 times, and Missouri converted on 25 of them. Now, they have to regroup quickly, as they play on Saturday.
Yeah, it's the hardest turnaround in our league, and the stats show it. I think last year, teams were 1-8 when they had this turnaround with the late game on Wednesday and the first thing on Saturday. So, we've got to be smart with what we're doing,” Byington noted about having to play on Saturday.
Vanderbilt is now 21-5 on the season and 8-5 in conference play. That placed them tied for fifth in the SEC, but they have a chance to move up in the standings on Saturday as they host Tennessee.
