Game 2: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Vanderbilt Commodores — Open Game Thread

With the long losing streak put to bed with an 83-65 win over Southeast Missouri State in Wednesday’s season opener, the Vanderbilt Commodores have a few things to build on as they welcome the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders to Memorial Gym tonight.

If you broke Wednesday’s game into ten-minute stretches, Vanderbilt outscored the RedHawks 55-24 over the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes of the game; and they basically played to a draw over the first ten minutes of the second half. But the swoon prior to halftime — during which SEMO outscored the Commodores 23-6 — was the difference between a game that was mildly competitive and a blowout.

Tonight, Vanderbilt is more than capable of beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and by a lot of points. The Islanders opened the season on Wednesday with an 82-49 loss at Louisiana Tech. They finished 14-18 last season, albeit with four wins over non-Division I competition, and went 9-9 in the Southland Conference — and then leading scorer Kareem South went to Cal as a graduate transfer. The Islanders’ best player, Jashawn Talton-Thomas, averaged 9.2 ppg and 5.1 rpg last season.

Anchor Down.