NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt turned to its three seniors and a freshman to end a three-game skid.
Seniors Matthew Fisher-Davis, Jeff Roberson and Riley LaChance each scored in double figures as did freshman Max Evans in an 81-48 rout of Houston Baptist on Wednesday night.
“I thought our seniors played really well tonight,” Commodores coach Bryce Drew said. “They were more vocal in the huddle than what they’ve been all season and so that was really encouraging. They all had really solid nights.”
Fisher-Davis scored 19 points, including five 3-pointers, and Roberson added to his Southeastern Conference lead with his sixth double-double, including 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Evans scored a career-high 14 points, including an exclamation-point dunk at the end.
LaChance added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Commodores (4-7).
It was a much-needed win for Vanderbilt, which had lost six of its previous seven.
The Commodores hit 12 of 30 from 3-point range while Houston Baptist (4-9) went 1 for 18.
Houston Baptist fell to 0-8 on the road after hitting just 26 percent of its shots from the floor on 16 of 61 shooting.
Due to a scheduling conflict with another team, the Huskies didn’t get to hold a pre-game shoot-around at Memorial Gym, an unusual arena with the benches behind the baskets instead of court-side like most places.
“It’s very much different than any place we play all year,” Huskies coach Ron Cotrell said. “I don’t blame all of our bad shooting on that. Certainly, we’re a tired ball club, but it played into it. You shoot 26 percent from the field, 5 percent from the 3 and 57 percent from the free-throw line and you’re not going to beat anybody.”
Ian DuBose led the Huskies with a career-high 20 points in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
“Our shooting has been off the last two games, so we’ve got to work on improving on knocking down shots and being more aggressive to the rim and taking better shots,” DuBose said. “Our shooters were missing open looks.”
Huskies guard Braxton Bonds, a former standout at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, was held to four points – five below his average.
Vanderbilt seized a 34-17 halftime lead after Houston Baptist missed 22 of its first 28 shots from the field.
“We were pretty locked in,” Fisher-Davis said. “I felt like our 3-point defense is normally pretty decent. That’s all we guard in practice every day, so we did a good job defending the 3 tonight.”
The Huskies finished a tough three-day stretch that included a 107-62 loss at second-ranked Michigan State on Monday.
BIG PICTURE
Houston Baptist: The Huskies struggled offensively as Jalon Gates missed nine off 11 shots from the field and David Caraher hit just 3 of 12. Even the foul shots wouldn’t fall as Houston Baptist missed 11 of 26.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores set the tone early, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and they pulled away from there. Vanderbilt needed a taste of success with its SEC opener at Florida just 10 days away.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
Vanderbilt is the only Southeastern Conference team with a losing record, but it has faced four ranked opponents.
The Commodores play the nation’s 14th-toughest schedule, including second most difficult among Power Five conference teams, according to Ken.Pom.com.
HUSKIES’ INJURIES
Houston Baptist’s David Caraher and Tim Myles both left the court with ankle injuries after a collision in the paint with 10:46 left.
Caraher limped off, favoring his right leg, and Myles was carried off-court by several teammates.
“They both kind of tweaked their ankles a little bit and both have some swelling,” Cotrell said. “We’ll see how severe it is. I really don’t know anything right now.”
UP NEXT
Houston Baptist visits Lamar (8-3) in its Southland Conference opener on Dec. 28.
Vanderbilt hosts Alcorn State (4-8) on Friday in its final tune-up before Southeastern Conference play. Alcorn State opened its season with a 99-59 loss against another SEC team, LSU.
