Ducks dominate Vandy, 74-48

EUGENE, Ore- The Oregon Ducks, behind superior shooting and defense, dealt Vanderbilt its first loss of the 2012-13 season. The 74-48 loss was not only ugly for the Commodore players, who managed only a paltry 34 percent shooting from the field for the game, but for Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings who was ejected early in the second half.

Trailing 41-25 with 15:57 remaining in the second half, a foul was call on the Commodores’ Rod Odom. Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings argued with the Pacific 10 officiating crew and was called for a technical foul. Stallings then walked to the center court area where he continued to argue with the crew before heading back to the Vanderbilt side of the court. Stallings was in the area in front of Commodore bench and seemed to be discontinuing his protests when an official suddenly called a second technical on Stallings thus ejecting him from the game.

After his ejection Stallings went to his team’s locker room where he watched the remainder of the game. Following the game Stallings did not want to discuss the ejection (the second of his Vanderbilt career) but did talk about his team’s play.

“I wouldn’t say that we had anybody play to the expectations that we have for them,” said Stallings. “I give Oregon credit, they played well and fed off the energy of the crowd but we just didn‘t respond.”

After his ejection Commodore assistant Tom Richardson took over head coaching duties for the remainder of the contest. Vanderbilt, which had trailed 41-20 at the halftime, went on a mini-run after Stallings exit. A lay-up by Kyle Fuller, who led the Commodores with 17 points, reduced the deficit to 51-37 with 11:30 to play. However, free throws by the Ducks Tony Woods and a lay-up by Carlos Emory pushed the Oregon lead by to 20 (57-37) with 9:39 to play. From that point on Vanderbilt would never get the deficit closer than 18 points.

Early on it appeared the Commodores would give the Ducks a tough game. Kedren Johnson, who finished with 14 points, made two 3-pointers to make it a manageable Duck lead of 11-8 with just under 15 minutes to go in the half. However, the Ducks locked down on Johnson defensively and no other Commodores, other than Fuller, were able pick up the sophomore’s slack.

Vanderbilt still trailed only 13-10 with 13:59 remaining in the half before things started to get ugly. The Commodores, who shot 27 percent from the field in the first half, couldn’t throw it in the ocean while the Ducks shooting sizzled at 50 percent. A Waverly Austin jumper increased the Duck lead to 17-10 with 11:48 left in the half. After back-to-back buckets by Fuller and Johnson to bring the Commodores to within three at 17-14, Oregon went on an 11-0 run that featured three 3-pointers and a field goal to build a 28-14 lead with 6:41 to go in the half.

A lay-up by Fuller ended the almost four minute scoreless period for the ‘Dores. Fuller was the only Commodore player other than Johnson to make a field goal in the first half, making two. Over the final six minutes of the half things went from bad to worse for the ‘Dores. While the Commodores were busy missing shots and turning the ball over the Ducks were red hot. E.J. Singler and Damyean Dotson each made two 3-pointers but it was guard Johnathan Loyd who drained a final trey for the Ducks as the halftime buzzer sounded to make it a 41-20 Commodore deficit at the break.

Singler led the Ducks with 22 points. Woods and Dotson each added 10 points for Oregon. The Ducks out-rebounded Vandy 35-29. Rod Odom was Vanderbilt’s third leading scorer with 9.

After the game Fuller discussed the disappointing Commodore performance.

“We are a young team,” said Fuller. “We’ve got to really buckle down when times get rough. It’s not our arena and people don’t feel comfortable. We have a lot of freshman, underclassmen that haven’t played in an war like this. It’s just a point of getting our minds right and knowing that it’s going to be like this. You can’t be nervous, you can’t be scared. You’ve got to go out there fighting.”

Vanderbilt falls to 1-1. The Commodores will face Davidson next in the Old Spice Classic on November 22 in Orlando, Fla. Oregon improves to 3-0.


Kevin Stallings yells towards officials shortly after being ejected in the second half against Oregon. (VM-Don Yates)