Vanderbilt basketball falls to SMU after second-half collapse. Here's what happened.

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Vanderbilt basketball went into halftime Saturday with a double-digit lead against SMU in Dallas. Then, as the second half commenced, the Commodores gave up every bit of it.

After a clean half where Vanderbilt shot well and defended well, suddenly the Commodores couldn't find the bottom of the net, couldn't defend and turned the ball over constantly. An SMU team that was 4-for-20 from 3-point range in the first half went 5-for-10 in the second half as Vanderbilt (5-2) ultimately fell, 84-72.

"We got complacent with the lead," junior guard Scotty Pippen Jr. said.

Added coach Jerry Stackhouse: "Once we got a little bit of separation in the first half, I think we relaxed even the disposition in the locker room, we don't want to kind of squelch their excitement but I kind of felt it a little bit."

Game of runs

Through much of the first half, the two teams played it close. But Vanderbilt turned on the jets offensively at the end of the first half, ending on a 14-1 run and holding SMU (7-3) without a field goal for nearly five minutes. That came even with Jordan Wright in foul trouble and on the bench.

But the Mustangs responded out of the half with an 11-0 run of their own, narrowing the score again. Later in the half, they went on an 18-3 run to take the lead. Vanderbilt was never truly able to regain the lead after that.

"We lost our attention to detail, a lack of focus a little bit," Stackhouse said. "We had some opportunities, ran a couple missed sets to start the half. ... Just gotta be a better effort, taking care of the ball and boxing out some of their second-chance points hurt us in the first half as well."

STATISTICS: How Vanderbilt men's basketball stacks up against the SEC statistically

TOURNAMENT RESUME?: Vanderbilt basketball is 5-1 but could loss to VCU damage NCAA Tournament path?

Turnovers killer

The Commodores shot better than SMU from 3-point range, but takeaways made the ultimate difference.

Though normally good at holding onto the ball, Vanderbilt had an unusual number of turnovers and the Mustangs took every advantage. The Commodores had 15 turnovers, above their season average of 13.7, and SMU had 26 points off those turnovers. Prior to Saturday, the Commodores had a +4.5 turnover margin. Instead, SMU was stingy with the ball and gave it away just seven times.

The Mustangs ran a pressure-focused defense, the same type that gave Vanderbilt trouble in its other loss to VCU.

Pippen up-and-down

Pippen shot well, making by far the most 3-pointers he has all season, with eight. Pippen has been somewhat inconsistent this season, rarely truly taking over games.

But Pippen didn't make a single one of his two-point attempts, and it didn't help that normal contributors like Tyrin Lawrence and Wright struggled. Just 24 of the Commodores' points came in the paint.

"I just felt like my legs were tired today," Pippen said. "I wasn't able to get the same lift off the ground, so I feel that was a reason for me missing some layups, as well as I thought I didn't get the calls I usually get so I thought I was playing to more contact and that kind of altered my shots."

Wright, the Commodores' MVP in the early part of the season, had 14 points and 12 rebounds, but he also turned the ball over four times, more than any other Vanderbilt player. Overall, he was minus-20 in 26 minutes.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball collapses in second half vs SMU. Here's what happened.