Vanderbilt sophomore Eric McClellan was suspended for the spring semester due to a violation of academic policy. He is expected to be reinstated this summer, but it leaves Vandy shorthanded as the Tigers get ready for their trip to Nashville.
The Commodores are playing with just seven scholarship student athletes. In their last game, Vanderbilt fought hard against then 14th ranked Kentucky Wildcats, but lost 71-62 at Memorial Gym in Nashville.
Who to watch out for on Vandy:
VU 6-foot-9 freshman Damian Jones had a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds against Kentucky. Kyle Fuller had 17 points and 10 assists, and Dai-Jon Parker added 17. Both Fuller and Parker played the entire 40 minutes of the game. Jones played 36.
Mizzou is 2-0 on the road this season and has already equaled last season’s number of road victories … The Tigers are coming off a 70-68 win at Auburn and got 20 points from Jordan Clarkson and 16 points from Earnest Ross … Missouri also got improved play from its bench, with freshman Torren Jones (11 rebounds) and junior college transfer Keanau Post (six rebounds) recording career highs on the glass.
Mizzou dominated the backboards in the win over Auburn and grabbed a season high 20 offensive boards and shot a season high 41 free throws … For the game the Tigers shot just 32.7 percent but attacked the rim to produce 31 points at the foul line, tying a season high.
Watch as I chat with Adam Stillman of the Jefferson City News Tribune about the upcoming game on Thursday that tips at 6 p.m.