The good news for Vanderbilt in its 91-72 season-opening win over Alabama State on Wednesday was that it didn’t need Scotty Pippen to be a star.
While the Southeastern Conference’s preseason Player of the Year came up with 15 points and four steals, Pippen was just one of four players in double figures as the Commodores turned 24 turnovers into 26 points.
Vanderbilt will aim for that kind of balance again Sunday night when it hosts Texas State in Nashville, Tenn.
“We’re going to need him more nights than not,” coach Jerry Stackhouse said of Pippen after the Alabama State win. “I think that tonight he got us off to a good start, made some good plays.
“I thought our young guys … you got to see some of the things they could do on the floor.”
The Commodores extended their 42-27 halftime advantage to as many as 29 points in the second half, allowing Stackhouse to give 10 players double-figure minutes, with no one working more than Pippen’s 24.
“I’m trying to give them something on tape so they can watch the film and get better and try to improve before the weekend,” Stackhouse said.
Meanwhile, Texas State (1-1) comes to town trying to recover after a disastrous second half Friday night in an 84-59 loss at LSU.
The Bobcats led by as many as eight points in the first half and took a 37-32 advantage to intermission but were outscored by 30 after the break.
Texas State got 13 points from Isiah Small and 12 from Caleb Asberry, but its usually tough defense couldn’t stop the high-powered Tigers. LSU converted 63 percent of its field-goal tries in the second half to cap a night in which the Tigers shot 53.8 percent from the floor.
The Bobcats, who return four starters from last season’s squad that finished 18-7 and won the Sun Belt Conference’s regular-season title, have been tabbed for a third-place finish in 2021-2022.
“Our group is a veteran group and the league is familiar with them,” coach Terrence Johnson said.
LSU won the only previous meeting, 93-74, during the 1987-88 campaign.
–Field Level Media
