Press Kit: A Confident Vanderbilt Team Gears Up For SEC Tournament

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Scotty Pippen Jr. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

After having one of its most successful seasons in recent years, the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team now prepares to make some noise in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida.

Superstar junior Scotty Pippen Jr., who was recently named to the First Team All-SEC, has led the team in scoring with 20.5 ppg, steals with 61 and assists with 127. He decided to return to Vanderbilt after contemplating entering the NBA Draft at the end of the 2020-21 season.

The Commodores, who hold the No. 11 seed, will take on bottom seeded Georgia who has had an abysmal season, winning only once since Dec. 22. Vandy beat Ole Miss 63-61 to finish the season after dropping three straight games against SEC opponents.

However, their record doesn’t properly represent the real threat this team can be in the SEC Tournament.

Vanderbilt dropped those three games to Alabama, Mississippi State and Florida, losing all contests by five points or less. The ‘Dores also lost to Tennessee twice, the first time by eight and the second time by nine. Both times, Vanderbilt kept the games close until the Vols ran away with it at the end.

This Vandy team, led by head coach Jerry Stackhouse, has a lot to prove and is due for a major win, especially with Pippen most likely leaving at the end of the season.

“I think we’re in a good spot. We know that we had some great opportunities that we didn’t handle well down the stretch ourselves. We could easily be in a different situation,” Stackhouse shared in a virtual press conference. “If you think of not only the earlier games that we had an opportunity to win, but just those three in a row there, that changes where we are tremendously. We start talking about 18-20 wins. That’s a different conversation for postseason and things like that, especially in our league and how tough it’s been this year. 

“For us it’s just about focusing on the stuff within the game and not getting so much into the next game or the next opponent, but just trying to handle our business on a possession to possession basis,” he adds.

Along with Pippen, Jordan Wright will be a key playmaker for the Commodores. Wright averaged 11.7 ppg, with 45 steals and 6.3 rpg–the most on the team.

Defense will be key if Vanderbilt plans to make a run in the tournament and will need major defensive performances from Wright and Quentin Millora-Brown. Millora-Brown had 16 steals, 32 blocks and averaged 5.7 rpg this season for Commodore.

Vandy has one of its best teams in over five years and is built around a strong core of juniors and seniors. This may be their last chance to make some noise and win a few conference tournament games before their college careers are over.

“We’re going to go with our older guys. We’re going to go with our guys that have been around. That’s the hierarchy around here,” Stackhouse said. “This is the time where you count on your older guys and try to go out and get every game you can get.”

Vanderbilt faces Georgia tonight (March 9) at 7 p.m. CT. The winner of the matchup will then play Alabama on Thursday. The Crimson Tide recently dropped out of the AP Top 25.

The winner of that game will then face nationally ranked No. 5 Kentucky in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 11.

Steven Boero
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