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Yeah, you aren't going to lose too many games when you have an eFG of 61.9%.
The Commodores came out on fire Thursday night, scoring on their first six possessions and building a 14-1 lead before Texas A&M knew what hit it. The Aggies didn't go quietly, though, clawing back to within one point before a late first-half run gave Vanderbilt a 40-33 halftime lead.
Then, Vanderbilt opened the second half on a 9-0 run to build a big lead and Texas A&M -- mind you, the #8 team in the country -- never threatened again after that, briefly pulling to within 10 late in the second half but never getting it to single digits.
In addition to shooting well, Vanderbilt held the Aggies' two big guns, Jalen Jones and Danuel House, to a combined 14 points on 3-for-21 from the floor.
Individual Stats
| Player | MIN | FG | FGA | 3FG | 3FGA | FT | FTA | ORB | DRB | REB | PF | PTS | AST | TO | BLK | STL | AdjGS | GS/Min |
| Jeff Roberson | 32 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.3 | 0.63 |
| Wade Baldwin IV | 32 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.1 | 0.63 |
| Damian Jones | 34 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 17.2 | 0.51 |
| Luke Kornet | 28 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15.5 | 0.55 |
| Josh Henderson | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.8 | 0.35 |
| Riley LaChance | 21 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.7 | 0.13 |
| Camron Justice | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.05 |
| Samir Sehic | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
| Nolan Cressler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.00 |
| Matthew Fisher-Davis | 29 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -0.2 | -0.01 |
| Joe Toye | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1.7 | -0.57 |
- When three of Vanderbilt's starters are playing well, Vanderbilt is going to be tough to beat. When four are playing well? Well, you get a 17-point win over one of the best teams in the country.
- Jeff Roberson and Wade Baldwin IV were essentially even in Game Score; but Game Score doesn't account for the job Roberson did making Danuel House's night miserable.
- Nor, well, does it fully appreciate the defensive job Damian Jones did in the paint. Five blocks is something, but that doesn't fully account for the Aggies shooting 14-for-35 on two-pointers.
- I can only imagine what that would have looked like if Matthew Fisher-Davis weren't having an off night.
- Over the past few games, Stallings has gone to a de facto six-man rotation. It's not entirely clear if Stallings doesn't trust Camron Justice or Joe Toye, but it's clear that Stallings thinks having his first six guys on the floor as much as possible is a winning formula.
- Also, Samir Sehic played non-garbage time minutes for the first time since the Auburn game.
What's Next
Vanderbilt just weathered probably the toughest stretch of the season with a 2-2 record, which is what I thought they needed to do. Now, Vanderbilt gets a string of five straight games which they should be favored to win, starting with a game at Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels can be a dangerous team when Stefan Moody is on, but other than currently-injured Sebastian Saiz, Ole Miss probably doesn't have another player who would get meaningful minutes for Vandy.