Tulsa @ Vanderbilt preview

Teams coming off disappointing seasons but off to good starts in 2019-20 meet Saturday when Tulsa visits Vanderbilt. The Commodores, who fired Bryce Drew after going winless in the SEC and ending the season on a 20-game losing streak, brought in long-time NBA star Jerry Stackhouse, while the Golden Hurricanes suffered through an 8-10 record in the American Athletic Conference after a 12-6 league mark in 2017-18.

Stackhouse, a roommate of new AD Malcolm Turner at North Carolina during his days as a Tar Heels star, was named head coach despite having no coaching experience at any level, has picked up five wins in six contests with the lone loss coming to Richmond, however, four of the five wins have been to teams ranked higher than 300 by KenPom. The Commodores played a less-than impressive game in a 78-70 victory over 326th-ranked Southeastern Louisiana on Monday, getting outrebounded by two and prevailing due in large part to Saben Lee, who had 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. “The best part of the night, to me, was walking in that locker room - because that’s not a happy team right now,” Stackhouse said afterwards. “That lets you know that the standard is high. We’re starting to set the standard and know that we didn’t have the performance that we feel that we’re capable of." The Golden Hurricane won their fourth straight, routing South Carolina State 78-47 on Wednesday as Reggie Jones scored 18 points and drained 5-of-8 3-pointers in 23 minutes.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT TULSA (5-1): Jones (9.3 points) has connected on 11-of-21 shots beyond the arc, but the team shoots just 28.6 percent - 301st in Division I. Leading scorer Brandon Rachal (16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.2 steals) had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double and his third of the season. Point guard Isaiah Hill is averaging four assists per game to go along with 3.2 turnovers and has missed 18-of-19 3-pointers, contributing to his 5.5 points-per-game average.

ABOUT VANDERBILT (5-1): Sophomore forward Aaron Nesmith paces the team in scoring (23.3 points), leads the nation in 3-pointers per game (4.8) and boast a SEC-best 3-point percentage (52.7) and scoring. Lee chips in 17.2 points - making him and Nesmith the highest-scoring tandem in the nation - and adds seven assists per game - second in the SEC - as well as 4.8 rebounds. A pleasant surprise has been freshman guard Scotty Pippen, Jr., the son of the Hall of Famer, who is averaging 11.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds.

TIP-INS

1. The Commodores enter third in Division I in effective field-goal percentage (2- and 3-pointers) at 60.8 percent, including 23rd in 3-point shooting (40.6).

2. The Golden Hurricane will make it tough on the hot-shooting Commodores, as they hold the opposition to 28.5 percent shooting on 3-pointers and 43.8 percent on 2-pointers.

3. Vanderbilt senior C Clevon Brown needs three blocks to pass Chris Woods (108) for the seventh-most blocks in school history. Julian Terrell is sixth with 116.

PREDICTION: Tulsa 72, Vanderbilt 68