NASHVILLE, TN — All season long Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse has sought more offensive balance, not wanting his team to overly rely on leading scorer Scotty Pippen Jr. to carry the whole load. Now that he has Rodney Chatman back in the lineup, that seems happening more often. Saturday the Commodores played arguably their best game of the season, defeating the 25th ranked LSU Tigers 75-66 at Memorial Gymnasium. It was their fourth SEC win, the first time they’ve reached that mark since Stackhouse took over. It was also their first victory over a ranked team since in two years.
It was also a very special night as Vanderbilt retired Shan Foster’s jersey. It was quite ironic that as Vanderbilt honored the player who’s their all-time three-point leader that long-range shooting would prove the difference. Chatman and Myles Stute the Commodores did their own impression of the program’s all-time 3-point leader. But it wasn’t star Scotty Pippen Jr. who took the spotlight. Instead, Rodney Chatman and Myles Stute were part of a barrage that resulted in 13 three-pointers, stunned LSU’s top-ranked defense with the most 3-pointers the Tigers have allowed this season. Chatman had 24 points, Shute had 17 and Jordan Wright added 13.
The Commodores also had 18 assists. Though he didn’t have a big game, Pippen did reach the number 30 spot on the school’s all-time scoring list. The only negative was the absence of Liam Robbins, who missed the LSU game due to injury. Vanderbilt gets another shot at beating a Top 25 team Saturday when they face Tennessee in Knoxville. But their next game was Tuesday night at home against Missouri. Vanderbilt is now 4-6 in the SEC, and 12-10 overall.
