3-0 (0-0) AP/Coaches: 17/19 Creme: 5-seed |
November 19, 20256:30PM CT at E.A. Diddle ArenaESPN+ | Radio Call | Live Stats |
2-2 (0-0) AP/Coaches: NR/NR Creme: NR |
Okay so apparently Austin Peay is good now and we are lucky to be escaping Clarksville with a win? Truly no such thing as an easy game in the SEC.
Next up, we are back… wait, on the road again? At Western
Kentucky?
No really, whose idea was this? This is the first time we are playing back-to-back nonconference road games since 2018 when we followed up a 20-point loss to NC State with a 38-point loss to UConn*. Those are way cooler games, ignoring the losses, than this year’s out of conference gauntlet.
Schedule and close first half against Austin Peay aside, we look fantastic early. Aubrey Galvan has immediately become a huge part of the team, currently averaging 12/6/6 with 2 steals per game, best for top 3 on the team in each of those statistical categories. Aiyana Mitchell is the big story for me right now, though. So far she is averaging 20 minutes (up from 11), 11 points (up from 4), and 8 rebounds (up from 3) per game. She is doing that all on 78% from the field, up from 54% each of the past two seasons. She might have turned her corner. Obviously we will need to see how she fares against stiffer conference competition, but for now I am very happy with her improvement.
I did not look into WKU much, but it seems they were actually a decent team last year. They finished 21-9 and right around 100th in things like NET and RPI, which means this could end up being a Quadrant 2 game if WKU ends up as good as last year. If that comes to pass, let’s just make sure it’s a Quad 2 win, not a loss.
*technically this was a neutral-site game played at the Connecticut Sun arena, but for obvious reasons I am counting it as a Vanderbilt road game
