Vandy rolls over Central Arkansas

Kevin Stallings liked what he saw from Festis Ezeli and George Drake as his team prepared for Wednesday’s game against Central Arkansas.

As a result, the crowd of 12,216 at Memorial Gymnasium saw the two on the floor sooner than in some recent outings. Ezeli was in the starting lineup for the first time since the season-opener, and Drake was the first Commodore off the bench.

Both contributed to the team’s best start to this point and finished with career-highs in scoring as VU led from start-to-finish in an 83-62 victory.

“It was a great feeling,” guard Jermaine Beal said. “Our team came out and played hard (Wednesday) night.”

The Commodores (3-1) led by as many as 25 in the first half, but saw their lead cut to 12 (55-43) with 12:31 to play in the second half. As a team they made 50.8 percent of their shots (30-59), outrebounded Central Arkansas by 15 (43-28) and committed just nine turnovers.

“We did a nice job in the first half of building a lead,” Stallings said. “… (But) we didn’t do well with the big lead. That’s kind of the first time we’ve been in that situation.”

Ezeli was instrumental in helping build that lead as he scored seven of VU’s first 15 points.

He was the choice to start in place of injured forward Andre Walker because of his practice performance. He finished with 11 points on five-for-seven shooting, five rebounds and one blocked shot despite foul trouble that limited him to 19 minutes of playing time (still a season-high).

“You start trying to reward the guy who is the most deserving,” Stallings said. “We felt like (Ezeli) deserved to start. We gave it to him and got him some quality minutes.”

Drake showed in pre-game warm-ups that he nearly was over the effects of a groin injury that had hampered him over the previous week. He entered 3:53 after the opening tip and within seven minutes had six points, three rebounds (two offensive) and an assist.

“I could tell at the shoot-around that he was feeling better,” Stallings said. “That’s why I wanted to get him in earlier. He responded and played well.”

He too played 19 minutes and finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Jeffrey Taylor had his fourth straight double-digit scoring game and led the Commodores with 16 points. Beal (12 points), Brad Tinsley (11) and A,J, Ogilvy (10) all finished in double figures as well.

“My thoughts are just the same, whether it’s off the bench or starting,” Drake said. “It’s just to play with intensity and bring whatever it is to the team I can bring on that night.

“I felt a whole lot better than I have been the last week. ... I felt all right, but not 100 percent.”

That means Stallings has something to look forward to in upcoming workouts.