Vanderbilt Commodores 58, Cincinnati Bearcats 67 - 11/23/09

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You always here about "Big East basketball". I guess Vanderbilt got a first-hand introduction to it tonight. Cincinnati seemed to be annoying the Commodores at every opportunity. The Bearcats got a piece of the ball on seemingly all of Vandy's attempts to take the ball to the hole. Vanderbilt shot an incredible 26.9% from the field. That's...REALLY bad. The rebounding category was also embarrassing. The 'Dores were out rebounded 42-27. In all, Vanderbilt seemed to be bullied/pushed around/dominated in a 67-58 loss in the opening round in the Maui Invitational. After 10 minutes of play, the good guys were only 1-12 shooting. Trailing by 12 at halftime was too much to overcome. Vandy outscored the Bearcats by 3 in the 2nd, but that poor stop was too much to overcome.

I guess every team has games like this. The entire game was simply brutal to watch as a fan. I had to make myself keep watching a number of times. I had to run a family errand at halftime, and I was not disappointed that the 2nd half started while I was in the car. The soothing sounds of Joe Fisher didn't help. How do you explain this feeling to people who don't care about sports? A game that may be meaningless in the long-run, but feels like you got punched in the face while it was happening.

Here are a few quick thoughts about the 5 Commodores that stood out to me:

Jeffery Taylor

He gave an extremely high effort all night. It seemed like he was super aggressive in the 1st Half, almost to the point of forcing things. Taylor started off the 2nd scoring a few buckets and getting to the line. He win 2-7 from the floor and finished with 11/7. The prospect just didn't have it all together tonight.

A.J. Ogilvy

Things looked better tonight. His energy level was higher, which showed in a couple really nice hustle plays. AJ made an incredible block on an open floor dunk attempt. Ogilvy finished with a 13/5 on an efficient 7-9 shooting. Better, but in the end it didn't matter.

Brad Tinsley

Where was he at? 0-5 shooting, no points, and one assist. He did have two turnovers, which is nice. He took three open 3's, but couldn't hit anything. I was hoping he would give the team a spark in the 2nd Half, but no such luck.

John Jenkins

It seemed like the 'Dores ran a few different sets to specifically get Jenkins an open look. In the end, he didn't disappoint. He scored 11 points on 50% shooting, including 3-6 from behind the arc. Excluding his stats, the Commodores only managed 2-13 from 3-point range. For all you non-math majors (including me), that 15%. Where's the button for a cringe face? Yeesh. It seems like JJ is getting more and more comfortable on the floor. A positive sign for the rest of the season.

Jermaine Beal

The 'Dores leading scorer with 16, Beal seemed to take a LOT of bad shots. He was 4-11 from the floor, and only 2-7 on 3's. I know he was trying to jumpstart the offense, but maybe he was trying a little too hard. Sometimes a leader needs to know when to back down and get others involved. He had 3 steals and only 1 assist. When the shots aren't following, its time to turn into Brevon Knight.

Maybe I just got my hopes up too high for this tournament. I'll just say this: If I would have paid for a trip out to Hawaii to watch the 'Dores, I would have walked over and ask Coach Stallings for a reimbursement after this mess. Now we have to go through the motions tomorrow against Chaminade. I mean...Chaminade. That's a no-win situation. Let's just say there's not going to be a preivew of that game. We should win by 30, and that's that.
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