Jerry Stackhouse happy with how Tyrin Lawrence responded to DNP

Jerry Stackhouse did not play second-leading scorer Tyrin Lawrence in Vanderbilt‘s blowout loss to Alabama earlier this week because he showed up to practice with a smile after a loss to Texas A&M.

Lawrence returned to the court Saturday for the Commodores against Ole Miss and responded with one of his best performances of the season.

He finished with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 10 rebounds in a game-high 37 minutes as Vanderbilt won 64-61.

“There was a lot made of him not playing last game,” Stackhouse said after the game. “I’m gonna continue to push him and continue to challenge him to reach his potential. I thought he responded the way I expected him to respond. He came out and he was great for us offensively. He was great for us on the boards, had 10 rebounds tonight, none bigger than that one offensive rebound. He didn’t concede and was able to kick it back out to the Miles. It really gives us the separation that wound up being the difference in the game.”

Lawrence is second on Vanderbilt in scoring at 11.0 points per game on 45.7% shooting.

The victory was an important one for the Commodores, who had lost three straight games heading into Saturday. That included the 101-44 defeat to the Crimson Tide on Tuesday.

“We had a conversation and it was just about I demand more from you,” Stackhouse said. “Take nothing away from the other guys on our roster, but he’s just different. We need you to do more, need you to be more accountable. I think he has the potential to be able to play at the next level.”

Jerry Stackhouse says he might do more 1-on-1 talks after success with Tyrin Lawrence

Jerry Stackhouse said he wants to continue doing 1-on-1 conversations with players after the success of his talk with Tyrin Lawrence.

“I think I got to do that more just with our group,” Stackhouse said. “With this Generation Z group, you gotta find ways to maybe hit them more one on one and two on two as opposed to just the film sessions when they’re in those big groups. They may not respond as well. But me and him had a good conversation one on one and he responded. My dad always say, I don’t have to eat a whole cow to know I’m eating beef. So if that worked for him, then I’m gonna have a few more meetings, some more one on one meetings with the rest of these guys. Just try to understand what’s going on with them as well. They’re not machines. They’re not mechanical. We got to find a way to the push the right buttons with them and hopefully I can continue to do that.”