NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jordan Wright and Scotty Pippen combined to score 31 points and Vanderbilt cruised past visiting Alabama State 91-72 on Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Commodores (1-0) received contributions from up and down the roster as they shot 45 percent and forced 24 Alabama State turnovers. Four Dores finished in double figures and a total of 11 scored.
Myles Stute, a catalyst in the first half, poured in 13 while Jamaine Mann came off the bench to total 15 points and 10 rebounds. Vandy finished with 17 assists on 29 made shots while also sinking 25 free throws.
Vanderbilt returns to action at 7 p.m. Sunday against Texas State (1-0).
“We came out and had a couple quick buckets, Stute had a couple quick buckets to take a lot of pressure off (Pippen),” Wright said. “Last year and the year before we kind of relied on him to kind of get us going. Tonight we got him going a little bit in the second half so that was good to see.”
On Wednesday, Vanderbilt jumped out to a 10-3 lead thanks to three early turnovers from the Hornets and Vandy making four of its first six shots. Back-to-back Stute 3s put the Commodores ahead 16-3.
A scoring drought of 3:01 midway through the opening half allowed the Hornets to creep within 22-15 after a Juan Reyna 3 from the right side. Vandy wound up going 4:37 without a made field goal until a Wright steal and dunk gave the Dores a 27-18 lead.
Consecutive buckets by Quentin Millora-Brown and Pippen, respectively, upped the margin to 37-22 and then Wright made the play of the half to give Vanderbilt a boost going into the locker room. The junior guard drove from the left side of the court through the lane and dropped a one-handed jam over a defender putting the Commodores up 42-27.
Pippen was 5 of 10 from the field and matched a career-high with four steals.
“We’re going to need (Pippen) more nights than not. I think that tonight he got us off to a good start, made some good plays. (Stute) got some good looks at the basket and got us a little separation,” Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “I thought our bigs did a good job. (Millora-Brown) did a good job being a physical presence in there. (Mann) had a big night tonight. I thought our young guys … you got to see some of the things they could do on the floor.
“I’m trying to give them something on tape so they can watch the film (Thursday) and get better and try to improve before the weekend.”
He’s like that.
⚓️ @JoWright32_ pic.twitter.com/Fh4zvBxTXu
— Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball (@VandyMBB) November 11, 2021
Vandy’s 15-point lead at the break was aided by nine offensive rebounds and a 47-percent shooting clip, though the Dores did commit seven turnovers.
The Commodores opened the second half with a Wright dunk, Pippen layup and Tyrin Lawrence layup, respectively, to surge ahead 48-27 and force an Alabama State timeout. The Hornets kept fighting back and were within 57-43 before a Mann layup restored order.
Peyton Daniels’ 3 from the left side put Vandy ahead 23 and there was no turning back from there. Mann’s strong play in the second half earned the Gardner-Webb transfer the second double-double of his career.
“My mentality was just to play hard, crash the boards, find open shots and play through the system,” Mann said. “That’s all we can do, really.”
Trace Young finished with 11 to lead Alabama State (0-2).
• Pippen is now 144 points from reaching 1,000 for his career.
• Pippen had four steals Wednesday, tying a career high.
• Wright has scored in double figures in six straight regular-season contests.
• Stute’s five made field goals set a career high.
• Millora-Brown recorded a career-high five assists.
• Lawrence pulled down a career-high five rebounds.
• Drew Weikert came off the bench in the second half to score a career-high five points.
• Vanderbilt is now 1-0 all-time against Alabama State and 12-0 against programs from the Southwest Athletic Conference.
• The Commodores have won five straight season openers and 15 straight home openers.
• Vandy last lost a home opener in 2006.
• Vanderbilt has now made at least four 3s in 41 straight games.
• Attendance on Wednesday was announced as 5,459
Opening Night Win by Vanderbilt Athletics on Exposure href=”https://exposure.co” style=”text-transform:uppercase”>Exposure
