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| (AP Photo/Charles Small) |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A.J. Ogilvy scored 21 points and No. 15 Vanderbilt tied for the best start in school history with a 92-85 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday.
At 12-0, the Commodores have equaled the 2003-04 Vanderbilt team for the school’s best start.
After trailing by 13 points in the first half, UT-Martin stormed back in the second half and grabbed a 71-70 lead with 9:24 left.
The game was tied at 83 with 3:20 remaining on a 3-pointer by UT-Martin’s Lester Hudson. Vanderbilt went ahead for good at 88-85 on a 3-pointer by Shan Foster with 3:08 left.
Alex Gordon scored five points in the final 1:27 to help the Commodores hang on.
Hudson, the NCAA’s third-leading scorer, had 36 points to lead the Skyhawks (5-8), and Gerald Robinson added 25.
Vanderbilt shot 39.7 percent from the field, the first time this season it has been below 40 percent.
UT-Martin went on a 10-0 run to open the second half, trimming Vanderbilt’s lead to 51-49 and prompting Commodores coach Kevin Stallings to make five substitutions.
Even when Vanderbilt went ahead 64-56, the Skyhawks stayed in the game behind the scoring of Hudson and Robinson.
Hudson’s 3-pointer pulled UT-Martin to 70-69 and a tip-in Djero Riedwald put the Skyhawks in front 71-70.
The game was tied five more times before Foster sank his go-ahead 3-pointer.
Hudson scored seven early points and the Skyhawks took a 26-19 lead with 11:08 left in the first half.
Vanderbilt then reeled off a 15-0 run to go ahead 34-26. In the spurt, Gordon scored eight points, including two 3-pointers, and Foster added two 3s.
At that point, the Commodores had made 12 of 20 shots from the field, including five 3-pointers.
The Commodores twice extended their lead to 13 before halftime. Ogilvy scored 13 points in the first half. Hudson scored 13 in the first half to lead UT-Martin.
