VU to tune-up on St. Francis

Jeffery Taylor

With Christmas behind them and the start of the spring semester roughly a week away, there is little to distract the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team from matters relating to the court.

That should make a difference today when the Commodores (9-3) face St. Francis (Pa.) in the final home game before conference play (11 a.m., Memorial Gymnasium) after a scattered performance nine days earlier in a victory over Furman.

“It was really just the first-year guys who didn’t focus too well,” coach Kevin Stallings said. “The returning guys like A.J. (Ogilvy), Jermaine (Beal) and George (Drake) all handled it just fine. The first-year guys struggled with looking forward to getting out of town.”

Of course, freshman account for more than half of Vanderbilt’s roster.

Ogilvy, a sophomore, and juniors Beal and Drake combined for 41 of VU’s 68 points in the victory over Furman, which took place three days before Christmas. Stallings said he expected the timing of that contest to present the challenges that it ultimately did.

The only potential distraction against St. Francis (4-7) will be the football team, which will participate in the Music City Bowl later in the day, and it will be the fans who might not be interested.

The start of the basketball game was moved from noon to 11 a.m. to give VU supporters the opportunity to watch both.

The Commodores’ next contest will be Jan. 3 at Massachusetts, and then they will open SEC play Jan. 10 at Kentucky.

“I think right now and next week will be a very critical time for us,” Stallings said. “… We have a little bit of a break in terms of the games we have, which gives us the opportunity to practice more and to get better.”