Big first half leads MBB past Northeastern

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rod Odom had 21 points, Damian Jones scored 16 and Eric McClellan added 14 to lead Vanderbilt’s torrid shooting performance in a 79-49 blowout of Northeastern on Saturday.

Odom, with four 3-pointers, and McClellan, with a pair of treys, were perfect from beyond the arc as VU (8-4) warmed up for its Southeastern Conference opener next week.

McClellan only missed one shot on his way to 12 first-half points. The Commodores shot 76.0 percent from the field the first half and 83.3 from 3-point range (5 of 6) to lead 46-18 at intermission.

Kyle Fuller didn’t miss at all to finish with 11 points, and Jones also had six blocks for Vanderbilt.

Reggie Spencer led the Huskies (3-11) with 15 points.

Odom’s 3-pointer that extended the lead to 44-17 pushed the percentage to 78.3, one game after the Commodores had their poorest shooting performance in Monday’s loss to Saint Louis.

Referees even waived off Jones’ turn-around desperation shot that banked in at the buzzer, after he initially bobbled the pass.

The Commodores made 17 of their first 22 shots for a 77.3 field-goal percentage. At one point, VU hit nine straight field goals — going 8 1/2 minutes without a miss.

McClellan scored eight straight points for Vanderbilt — including two 3-pointers, the first after his steal -for an early 10-4 lead. He had 12 points in the first 8 minutes, plus his second steal led to Kyle Fuller’s fast-break layup and an 18-8 advantage.

Marco Banegas-Flores cut it to 18-11 on his trey, but the Commodores doubled up the score 28-14 on Dai-Jon Parker’s 3.

Fuller stretched it to 31-15 on an over-the-shoulder reverse after dropping the ball as the shot clock expired.

Jones scored eight straight points, including a dunk, as Vanderbilt stretched it to 39-15, and Odom’s jumper made it 41-15 to cap a 20-2 run.

The Huskies, meanwhile, missed nine straight field goals between Reggie Spencer’s jumper at 10:07 to pull within 21-13 and his layup 2:34 before halftime at 41-17.

Northeastern had defeated Georgetown earlier, and seven of its 10 previous losses had been by five points or less.