Feb. 4, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
On campus in Nashville – Vanderbilt’s recent surge in SEC play came to a halt on Saturday. Ole Miss (13-9, 5-5 SEC) authored a high-scoring second half and held off the Commodores (11-12, 4-6 SEC), 81-74, at Memorial Gym.
Let’s clean the glass from the ‘Dores’ loss.
THE SKINNY: Neither team led by more than five points in what amounted to a tight first half. Vanderbilt landed a couple of highlight-reel plays in a drive-and-dunk from Luke Kornet with 9:40 to play and a one-handed tip slam from Joe Toye with 4:50 left. That effort helped the ‘Dores lead 32-27 at half, paced by Jeff Roberson’s 11 points. But Ole Miss found its groove after the break, hitting seven 3-pointers and scoring 54 second-half points to notch the win in Nashville.
TURNING POINT: Ole Miss shot just 29 percent in the first half and held a slim 48-47 with less than 10 minutes to play against the Commodores. Then the Rebels found life, staging a 12-2 run which was capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Cullen Neal. That stretch gave Ole Miss a 60-49 cushion with 7:16 to play, which forced a timeout from Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew and a loss of momentum for the ‘Dores.
IMPACT PLAYER: Neal. Ole Miss’ junior guard hit only two shots against Vanderbilt – and scored seven points – but those two shots were huge. That pair of 3-point buckets sparked the Rebels into the aforementioned run that altered the course of the game.
STARTLING STAT: 7 – number of Ole Miss 3-pointers in the second half. The Rebels began the day struggling against Vanderbilt’s defense with a 0-10 start from 3-point range. They went into half just 2-13 from deep, but their fortunes reversed in the second half. Ole Miss drilled seven of their final nine 3-pointers, sharpshooting that helped deflate Vanderbilt’s own runs in important moments.
WHAT IT MEANS: Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss snaps Vanderbilt’s two-game winning streak and prevents it from snagging its fourth victory in five games.
QUOTABLE: “Our focus seems to be really, really good on the road. At home, we haven’t come out with quite the same fire. We did it [last Saturday] against Iowa State. That’s kind of the fire we’ve had in our last couple road games.” -Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew
WHAT’S NEXT: Vanderbilt travels to Arkansas next Tuesday, Feb. 7. The actions tips off at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.