AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Jermaine Beal scored 21 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, to help Vanderbilt snap a four-game losing streak to beat Auburn 82-75 on Saturday.
“It was just one of those games where I made a couple of shots and I just kept shooting it,” Beal said. “It felt good, so it went down and I just kept shooting it.”
The Commodores (13-8, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) shot 60.9 percent from the field (28 of 46) and 58.8 percent from the 3-point line (10 of 17).
A.J. Ogilvy and Jeffery Taylor each scored 14 points for Vanderbilt, while Brad Tinsley added 13. Taylor had nine rebounds and five assists.
“Vanderbilt was very sharp offensively this game,” Jeff Lebo, Auburn head coach, remarked. “They made shots; they came in struggling to shoot the ball. Ogilvy had been unhealthy and sick, so he was obviously better and that was a big factor in the game.”
Lucas Hargrove hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 70-70 with 3:15 left in the second half for the Tigers (13-8, 2-4). Beal answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Commodores ahead 76-70 with 1:51 remaining.
“I feel like our team came out, played hard and played together,” noted Beal.
Hargrove, who finished with 11 points for Auburn, hit another 3 to cut the lead to two points with 1:09 left, but the Tigers would pull no closer.
Rasheem Barrett led Auburn with 29 points.
