NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt had three players in double figures as they gutted out a 72-67 victory over visiting Texas A&M on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Scotty Pippen Jr. led the way with 24 points while Jordan Wright and Liam Robbins provided big scores down the stretch as the Commodores (14-12, 6-8 SEC) fought off the Aggies’ furious attempts at a game-winning rally. Wright finished with 15 and made six steals and Robbins added 14 to go with his eight rebounds.
With the Dores trailing 61-60 late, Robbins hit a pair of free throws and then a jump hook in the lane to give Vanderbilt a 64-61 lead. Robbins’ offensive rebound and putback with 1:13 on the clock put the home team up 68-65.
Wright’s layup with 26 seconds to go gave Vandy a 70-67 lead, and then single free throws by Pippen and Robbins, respectively, sealed the deal.
Vanderbilt returns to action at 8 p.m. Tuesday to host Alabama (17-10, 7-7 SEC).
Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard first Saturday, thanks to a pull-up jumper from senior guard Drew Weikert. A few minutes later, Pippen hit a long triple to put the Commodores ahead 10-5.
At the 12:04 mark, Myles Stute connected on a right-corner 3-pointer to give the Commodores a 15-10 lead. Terren Frank followed that up with a tough bucket from under the basket, making it a 17-10 contest.
Vandy went 3:16 without scoring but still managed to be up 19-16 after a Robbins bucket with 6:56 left in the half.
Texas A&M took its first lead of the game with 2:21 to play, thanks to a Hassan Diarra layup. Pippen responded by scoring four straight, giving the Dores a 28-25 lead.
Vanderbilt settled for a 28-27 advantage at the break despite 12 turnovers and just two 3-pointers. The Aggies got 18 points off turnovers and 19 points from their bench.
Vandy started the second half on a 9-0 run that was highlighted by five from Wright and a follow-up dunk from Tyrin Lawrence. It took the Aggies nearly 4 1/2 minutes to score in the second period as the Dores built a 10-point lead.
Texas A&M fought back to knot the score at 42-all on Quenton Jackson’s pull-up 3 from the left side. Pippen came to the rescue on the other end with a layup, putting Vandy back ahead by two points.
Weikert and Trey Thomas knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers minutes later, giving the Commodores a 50-45 advantage.
The Aggies responded with a 9-0 blitz in just 79 seconds to go up 54-50. A pair of Pippen free throws tied the score at 58-58 and set up the final and decisive 5:12 of the game.
Jackson led Texas A&M (16-11, 5-9 SEC) with 23.
- Wright’s six steals Saturday was two shy of Vanderbilt’s single-game record of eight done three times by James Strong (1998), Atiba Prater (1998) and Frank Seckar (1994).
- Vandy seniors Rodney Chatman and Drew Weikert were honored prior to Saturday’s game.
- Vanderbilt’s six league wins is its most since winning six during the 2018-19 season.
- With 24 points Saturday, Pippen Jr. (1,348) passed Terry Compton (1,326; 24th), Saben Lee (1,338; 23rd) and Butch Feher (1,345; 22nd) on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list. Billy McCaffrey (1,359) is 21st.
- Vandy has forced 15 or more turnovers in 13 games this season.
- Wright has now started 31 straight games for Vanderbilt.
- Thomas has now played in 51 straight games for the Commodores.
- Vanderbilt is now 12-2 this season when leading at halftime and 13-5 when shooting at least 40 percent from the field.
- The Commodores are now 10-6 all-time against the Aggies and 6-1 as the home team.
- Attendance on Saturday was announced as 6,702.
