Call it an Illinois thing.
After not losing a single home game last season, the Vanderbilt men's basketball team has already done so twice this year, losing both times to teams from the Land of Lincoln. On Wednesday night, the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames came away from Memorial Gym with a 74-55 victory, abruptly halting Vanderbilt's four-game win streak that began after the Commodores fell to Illinois on Nov. 19, 69-63.
"We were severely out-played, out-fought and out-hustled tonight," said coach Kevin Stallings. "It was a very disappointing and embarrassing performance."
Hot shooting by UIC and untimely turnovers on Vanderbilt's part did the Commodores in. Vanderbilt was able to force the Flames to take tough shots with little time on the shot clock, but UIC didn't seem to miss from all parts of the court. Everything seemed to be dropping for the pesky Flames, who shot an incredible 63.2 percent from beyond the three-point stripe, while hitting seven of eight in the second half.
On the other hand, Vanderbilt (5-2) couldn't seem to buy a bucket, as they missed countless open shots and easy layups. To make matters worse, the Commodores were out-rebounded by the visibly shorter Flames.
"We didn't have the defensive effort required to keep their score to a minimum," said sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy, who finished with 14 points. "We just didn't play well enough to win. That's what it comes down to."
While there are ample reasons to hang their heads, it's not as if the Commodores were playing a pickup team. The Flames, out of the Horizon League, have only dropped two close games this season, to Big East foe DePaul and perennial NCAA tournament darling Bradley.
Despite the ugly play, there were some bright spots for the Commodores. Freshman Jeffrey Taylor showed yet again that he will be a superstar for Vanderbilt in the future, dropping in 14 points and collecting seven rebounds, while classmate Steve Tchiengang, who had been suspended by the NCAA for the first six games, proved he is capable of playing at the Southeastern Conference level.
However, those few bright spots were not enough to outdo UIC's hustle and Vanderbilt's lack thereof.
"Maybe our players thought this would be an easy game despite my urgings and telling them it would be a difficult one," Stallings said.
The game started well enough for Vanderbilt, as both teams traded leads in the beginning of the first half. However, UIC's lights out shooting propelled them to a 9-point halftime lead, and they never looked back. Josh Mayo led UIC with 30 points, and was a blistering 8-10 behind the arc.
Anytime the Commodores seemed to show some life, UIC (4-2) was able to immediately answer. With five minutes left in the second half, Vanderbilt was able to cut the lead to 13 and gain a sliver of hope off of a thunderous dunk by redshirt junior George Drake. However, UIC responded shortly after with a 3-pointer by sophomore Robo Kreps.
This year's version of the Commodores is young and will experience some growing pains - a lesson they learned the hard way on Wednesday.
"It's a hard lesson to learn, and probably one that we should have learned earlier in the season," Stallings said. "You can't look past any team."
The Commodores next play Dec. 6 at Georgia Tech.
