Commodores win in commanding fashion
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Vanderbilt University admitted it had taken exception earlier this week to suggestions it would be “shocked” and “stunned” by George Washington’s defensive pressure.
The Commodores responded Thursday afternoon by taking apart the Colonials 77-44 in the opening round of the NCAA East Regional men’s basketball tournament at Arco Arena.
Junior wing Shan Foster scored a game-high 18 points and Derrick Byars and Alex Gordon combined for 22 more as sixth-seeded VU (21-11) used a barrage of first-half 3-pointers to brush aside 11th-seeded GW (23-9) and set up a second-round matchup against third-seeded Washington State, a 70-54 winner over 14th-seeded Oral Roberts earlier in the day.
The Commodores, who have nurtured a love interest in the 3-pointer all season, repeatedly beat the Colonials’ half-court zone trap to set up one uncontested shot after another. They connected on 10 of 18 first-half 3-pointers to open up a comfortable 45-20 halftime lead and then coasted to the lopsided victory, despite missing on 11 of their 13 second-half 3-point tries.
“We felt like if we could get out of their traps and get moving – because we can pass and catch pretty well – that we’d get some pretty good shots,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stalling said.
The Commodores complemented their early torrid shooting with some stifling man-to-man defensive pressure that severely rattled George Washington. The Atlantic-10 Conference champion Colonials made only two of their first 17 shots and shot 27.1 percent (13 of 48) from the field.
“As well as we shot the ball tonight, the key to the game was defense on our part,” said Byars, the Southeastern Conference’s player of the year, who shook off a 2-for-9 first-half shooting performance to finish with 12 points and five assists. “Everybody contributed, which was good.
“But now we have our hands full with Washington State.”
Stallings said he expects to deal with a different kind of defensive pressure against WSU, which tends to play much more straight-up man than the zone-happy Colonials.
“One thing we do know is they guard for 40 minutes,” Stalling said of the Cougars. … “Their defense is not surprising, but unusually, good. And when I say unusually, I mean it is good every night. They’re a three seed for a very good reason. George Washington is a good team, but Washington State is a cut above probably everyone in this pod, with the exception of UCLA.”
In Vanderbilt, WSU will face a perimeter-oriented team that launched 758 3-pointers.