How Vanderbilt men's basketball stacks up against the SEC statistically

The SEC is again shaping up to be one of the strongest men's basketball conferences. In the most recent USA TODAY Coaches Poll, , six SEC schools were ranked with another receiving votes.

Playing in a tough conference gives each team the chance to build up quality wins, but it also means a tougher path to those wins, not to mention the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt (5-1) is entering the toughest part of its nonconference schedule before SEC play starts in January, beginning with a game at to SMU (6-3) on Saturday (5 p.m., ESPN+).

Here's how the Commodores stack up against the rest of the league in the early going:

Offense

Coach Jerry Stackhouse is most renowned for his offensive sets, but the Commodores have struggled this season by both traditional and advanced metrics.

Vanderbilt is 12th in the conference in field goal percentage at 42%, ahead of just Missouri and South Carolina. The Commodores rate out slightly better from 3-point range, though not much — they're ninth at 32%. In effective field goal percentage, which is essentially shooting percentage that weighs 3-pointers higher than twos, Vanderbilt is 10th. That shooting struggle is a problem for a team that ranks 28th in the country and first in the SEC in percentage of field goal attempts that are from 3-point range.

The good news is that the Commodores have room to improve here. Individually, Jordan Wright has been Vanderbilt's best player with a field goal percentage of 50.8% and an effective field goal percentage of 59.5%. Scotty Pippen Jr., the preseason SEC Player of the Year, rates out lower than Wright but has the potential to be much better. If Pippen can reestablish his dominance on offense, it could give Vanderbilt a formidable 1-2 punch. Additionally, if Liam Robbins can return from injury, he could give the offense a boost; Robbins shot 33% from 3-point range last season.

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Defense

The Commodores have been better than expected on defense, even in the absence of Robbins and guard Rodney Chatman, both expected to be defensive stalwarts. Vanderbilt opponents are making just 36% of their field goals, 10th in the country and second in the SEC, and 28% of their 3-pointer, 49th in the country and fifth in the SEC. In opponent effective field goal percentage, the Commodores are 12th in the country and second in the SEC.

Of course, these stats don't account for the fact that Vanderbilt has played a relatively weak schedule with the toughest non-conference opponents still to come. In opponent-adjusted defensive efficiency, which measures points allowed per 100 possessions accounting for quality of opponent, the Commodores are 54th nationwide, according to KenPom, which is just 11th in the SEC.

Robbins and Chatman could make the Commodores' defensive ceiling even higher, but if the early statistics hold, it's clear that scoring will be at a premium in the SEC.

Fouls

Vanderbilt has done well to avoid fouls. It's tied for 35th in the country and fourth in the SEC in personal fouls per game. But the Commodores have not performed well in defensive free throw rate, which measures the rate of free throw attempts to field goal attempts. They rank 121st in the country and seventh in the SEC. That's indicative that while Vanderbilt commits relatively few fouls overall, a higher percentage are shooting fouls, giving the opponent a chance at free points.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt men's basketball: How the Commodores measure up vs. SEC