South Carolina 69, Vanderbilt 65: Worst Shooting Performance of Season Dooms Commodores

Well, now, this is an unusual one.

In Vanderbilt's seven losses this year, there has been a frequent theme. Vanderbilt played well enough to win, except for ____________. "Blank" can be turnovers (Arkansas, Baylor), defensive rebounding (Dayton, Purdue, Baylor again.) But rarely has the blank been shooting. Vanderbilt didn't shoot well against Purdue, but the Boilers didn't shoot well, either; instead, the problem was that Purdue got to way too many of its own misses.

But on Saturday in Columbia, shooting the ball -- normally the one thing the Commodores have been able to count on to keep them in games, even when they're not playing well otherwise -- was the thing that lost the game.