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Best Start Ever; Vanderbilt Outlasts Auburn 59-53 1/7/2004
Best Start Ever; Vanderbilt Outlasts Auburn 59-53 No. 20 Vanderbilt used an 11-0 run to close out the game and defeated Auburn 59-53 Wednesday night at Memorial Gym. The loss dropped the Tigers to 9-3, 0-1 while the Commodores moved to 12-0, 1-0 and the best start in school history. With Vanderbilt trailing by two with a minute and half to play, senior Matt Freije stepped to the line and knocked down his first free throw. After missing the second, senior Scott Hundley grabbed the rebound and senior Russell Lakey hit only his second three of the season to put VU up for good. “He’s a big-shot maker,” said Head Coach Kevin Stallings. “And on top of that, the guy has a sophomore starting in front of him and he has never complained, never questioned. He’s just been a good senior and a good leader. He deserves to make shots like that, and he did.” Freije, SEC Preseason Player of the Year, scored a game-high 15 points including two threes. The Tigers were led by junior guard Nathan Watson who scored 13. The game was a tale of two halves. Vanderbilt fell behind 5-0 to start the game but rattled off a 24-5 run. The run was fueled by Vanderbilt’s four-for-four shooting on treys during the stretch. The Commodores also played impressive defense in the first half. VU was not allowing anything easy and held Auburn from scoring a field goal for over five minutes. After Auburn cut into the Vanderbilt lead, Freije nailed a three as the half expired to give the Commodores a 34-20 halftime lead. The 20 points was Auburn’s fewest of the season and Vanderbilt’s best defensive half of the year. Vanderbilt shot 58 percent in the first half and hit six of 11 three-pointers. The second half was the complete opposite for Vanderbilt. VU missed 13 straight threes until Lakey’s heroics in the final minutes. The ‘Dores also shot 28 percent from the field in the second stanza. “We have to give them a lot of credit,” said Lakey. “They made us do things that we don’t normally do–like turn the ball over and shoot bad shots.” As cold as the Commodores were, the Tigers were red hot. After shooting 29 percent in the first, AU shot 46 percent. Auburn dominated the second half and put together a 13-0 run that gave the Tigers the lead with 5:32 remaining. Providing the spark for Auburn was junior guard Ian Young who scored seven straight points. The Tigers also outworked the ‘Dores on the boards. Auburn pulled down 40 rebounds to Vanderbilt’s 33. The real difference was evident on the offensive glass where the Tigers held a 16-10 advantage. Vanderbilt hits the road for the next two games. The Commodores play No. 5 Kentucky Saturday night at 6 pm in Lexington, Kentucky and Tennessee Wednesday, January 14 at 6:30 pm in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next home game for the ‘Dores is January 17th when the Florida Gators come into Memorial Gym. |
