NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Freshman Sheldon Jeter scored a career-high 14 points off the bench to lead Vanderbilt to a 64-50 victory over William & Mary on Wednesday.
The Commodores (6-6) smothered William & Mary, which shot just 34 percent (16 of 47) from the field. Still, the Tribe (7-5) trailed by just seven with 7 minutes left. But Vanderbilt rattled off eight straight points, including consecutive 3-pointers from Kedren Johnson and Dai-Jon Parker to pull away.
Jeter was 6 of 7 from field and scored seven straight points twice.
Marcus Thornton paced William & Mary with 14 points. Tim Rusthoven added 11 and Matt Rum had 10, while Kyle Gaillard grabbed 10 rebounds.
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings picked up his 182nd win at home to become the all-time wins leader at Memorial Gymnasium. Stallings, in his 14th season, passed Roy Skinner, who won 181 games in 16 years over two stints from 1959-76.
Vanderbilt led 26-21 at halftime but missed its first five shots out of the break.
The Tribe took advantage, tying the game at 31 with a layup by Sean Sheldon. They couldn’t jump back in front, as Vanderbilt went on a 13-4 run. Jeter closed out the spurt with seven straight points. The Commodores had missed 13 straight 3-pointers until Jeter snapped the skid with 12:10 left — though replays showed he was inside the line — as he sank a shot in the corner as he was fouled.
He missed the free throw but kept attacking the basket. He tipped in a teammate’s miss later and drove the baseline for a 44-35 lead with 10:33 left and sparked a timeout from Tribe coach Tony Shaver.
William & Mary, which entered shooting 48.6 percent, cut the lead to seven twice. Gaillard’s jumper with 7:11 left pulled the Tribe within 48-41 but Vanderbilt made four straight 3-pointers to end the game.
The Commodores shot 8 of 24 from 3-point range but started slow. After the Commodores made their first two from outside, they missed their last nine of the first half and 13 straight. The Tribe entered ranked fifth in the country as opponents shot just 24.8 percent from 3-point range.
A 3-pointer by Thornton put William & Mary in front 16-13 with 10:36 left. The Tribe then went through an offensive drought, going scoreless for the next 6 minutes. The Commodores jumped ahead with seven straight points by Jeter. A basket off an offensive rebound by Josh Henderson and a layup by Johnson capped a 9-0 run and gave Vanderbilt a 22-16 lead.
But William & Mary responded with five straight points to pull within one. Johnson and Kyle Fuller answered with back-to-back, fast-break baskets for a 26-21 halftime lead.
Vanderbilt tied a season-high with 10 blocks to snap a two-game losing streak. They now have an eight-day break before welcoming defending national champ Kentucky to begin Southeastern Conference play.
