The 2024-25 men’s basketball season is off to a wonderful start for Vanderbilt Commodores.
With his victory over Austin Peay’s Governors on Saturday, their record has improved to 11-1 on the year. The Mark Byington era could not have got off to a better start, as he has already matched or surpassed Jerry Stackhouse’s win total in three of his five campaigns at the helm.
Their strength of schedule hasn’t been terrifying their opponent’s NET Ranking of 297 and College Basketball Reference putting his strength of schedule at -3.46, which is ranked No. 283 out of 364.
But that will surely change in the coming months as the SEC will be daunting to navigate.
Eight teams from the conference are currently ranked in the top 25, with Tennessee Volunteers and Red-brown tigers ranked No. 1 and No. 2. The Kentucky Wildcats, Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators are all in the top seven as well.
There will be ample opportunity for the Commodores to pick up quality wins to bolster their resume. But if they want to make some noise in conference play this season, there’s an Achilles heel they’ll have to overcome; 3-point shooting.
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 25 in the nation at 85.4 points per game, as they are incredibly efficient shooting two-pointers. So far, they have made 61.2% of their shots inside the arc, which is eighth in the nation.
They are on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to 3-point shooting.
Despite being 98th in attempts at 25.5 per game, they are 144th in the making with just 8.3 per game. The Commodores shoot an underwhelming 32.7%, which ranks them at No. 231.
Unfortunately, they are even worse at defending the 3-point line than they are at converting their own shot attempts.
Their 34.4% 3-point shooting percentage allowed is No. 245 in the country.
They have done a good job of limiting opposing 3-point attempts, which has been their only saving grace.
Both areas will need to improve during SEC play or the Commodores will run into some serious problems.
Three of the top 44 3-point shooting teams currently in the conference, and four more are in the top 100.
If Vanderbilt can’t tighten things up on the perimeter and start knocking down some 3-pointers of their own, their hot start could quickly be undone.
