Lance Goulbourne's averages over the past five games:

In the midst of a tough SEC stretch, Goulbourne's gone missing. With Jeffery Taylor and Andre Walker struggling at times, it would stand to figure that Lance would be in line for some serious minutes. However, his performance lately is suggesting that he's taken a step back recently. Excepting a solid game at South Carolina, Goulbourne's been quiet in SEC play, shooting poorly in limited minutes and having very little impact on the game when he's on the court. It might not be a stretch to say that he played better while recovering from mono last year.

Goulbourne is one of the keys to the Commodores' depth. Being able to throw him, John Jenkins, and Festus Ezeli out there for big minutes without worrying about big deficits is supposed to be one of the advantages this squad has over past Vandy teams. Maybe he's been hurt (there hasn't been any publicity, but he might be fending off a nagging injury), or maybe he's just hit a wall as a sophomore, but Vanderbilt is going to need him as a change of pace 3/4 off the bench more and more as the season presses on.