Jeffery Taylor leads Vanderbilt past Mississippi State, 81-74
by Christian D'Andrea on Jan 27, 2011 9:19 PM EST
in Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball
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PrintMississippi State trailed by three with 21 seconds left, but had the ball on their home court and a chance to prove that the Commodores had yet to figure out their late game woes. One monumental Jeffery Taylor dunk later, it was all over.
Taylor stole Brian Bryant's backcourt pass with just 17 seconds to go and threw down a vicious dunk to seal the win for Vanderbilt, securing Kevin Stallings's first ever win in Starksville as the 'Dores avoided Mississippi State's upset bid. Vandy trailed by as many as eight points with 10 minutes to play, but showed that they could win tough conference games on the road with a gutsy performance at The Hump.
After a cold first half, the 'Dores offense came alive in the second frame, getting into the paint and putting in work from the foul line. Taylor led all scorers with 25 points and John Jenkins added 21 despite a below average (for him) shooting night. Lance Goulbourne continued his torrid pace on the glass with 13 rebounds and nine points, stepping up big when Festus Ezeli was saddled with foul trouble.
Vanderbilt put an onus on attacking the Bulldogs' frontcourt, and their tenacity paid off. Ezeli was a perfect 5-5 from the field while playing a huge role in taking MSU's forwards out of the game due to foul problems. Sidney, Kodi Augustus, and Wendell Lewis combined for 14 fouls and just 13 rebounds, opening up the lane for Taylor and Jenkins to do damage on offense.
The win was Vandy's first as a ranked team this season. More importantly, it was the first game of the season where this team was able to counter an opposing team's momentum in the second half on the road. It was a big win for Kevin Stallings and his crew. Mississippi State presented a big time trap game for the 'Dores - but thanks to Jeffery Taylor's best play wearing black and gold, Vanderbilt avoided the trap.
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turnovers: 9
when you don’t throw the ball away, you win games
Resume builder
Big victory for character and confidence, and especially for Mr. Taylor. Stallings hopefully will pat the guys on the back on the ride home.
by RyanLeath on Jan 27, 2011 9:59 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Forgot to mention
Vandy going to the press helped them get back into it. For a defense we hadn’t seen all season, it was pretty effective. Good to see.
by Christian D'Andrea on Jan 27, 2011 10:02 PM EST reply actions
Judging from tweets from my friend at MSU
They’re apparently awful against a press. Smart coaching in any case. Probably was the difference in a W and an L.
Fun fact
Despite pressing, we only forced TOs on 17% of MSU’s possessions (just estimating their number of possessions with the equation at kenpom); and our abysmal average going into the game was 18.4% (good for 280th).
However, starting with with the TO by State at the 5:37 mark, we force something like 4 to’s in their final 12 or so possessions. 25% is about what Missouri averages (25.1, actually) and would be good for around 17th in the nation. That press was a difference maker, particularly considering how poor our eFG% defense was (I have us allowing 63-65% in eFG, which is over 20 percentage points higher than our average).
Four Factors
(VU // MSU)
Possessions — 73 (72.7) // 70 (70.1)
PPP (Offensive Efficiency) — 1.11 // 1.06
TO% — 12.4% // 16.5%
eFG% — 48.4% // 51.7%
FTRate — 50.0% // 29.3%
OReb% — 30.2% // 24.2%
FG% — 41.9% // 44.8%
2FG% — 54.5% // 58.1%
3FG% — 27.6% // 29.6%
FT% — 67.7% // 82.4%
A:TO — 1.22 // 0.83
3FG% — 27.6% // 29.6%
Assist% — 42.3% // 38.5%
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by KingJamesIV on Jan 28, 2011 12:33 PM EST up reply actions
Three 3s, Three steals, fearless in traffic (fouled on 2 separate dunks!)
Whenever he declares, they’ll use some of the highlights from this game in his highlight reel, for sure.
by Christian D'Andrea on Jan 28, 2011 11:37 AM EST up reply actions
Saint Mary's
won at Gonzaga, which is nice for us (and them too I suppose)
Watched that whole game
St Mary’s is just a beast team – incredible backcourt, great shooting, no quit in them at all. That’s their first win in Spokane in 16 years and it leaves them undefeated in conference play – and Gonzaga already tied for the most conference losses in a decade. Right now I don’t see any reason SMC can’t run the table – at which point, a 19-point win will look INCREDIBLE for the committee.
You can’t see it from there, but right now I’m the biggest Gaels fan south of Moraga ;]
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
by VandyImport on Jan 28, 2011 12:42 PM EST up reply actions
I watched the second half
big Gaels fan till the start of the tourney.
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Taylor
This was the first game this year that it seemed like Taylor said “screw it, im going to be aggressive all game.” Too many times this year he started dominating then backed off a little. Bottom line is he’s such gifted player and athelete that if he decides to aggressively attack the rim there are very few guys that can guard him without fouling. Great game for Taylor and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.
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