LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – John Jenkins twice gave Vanderbilt leads late. The 20th-ranked Commodores found a way to lose them both.
Jenkins scored 27 points, but Peyton Siva drove through the middle of Vanderbilt’s defense for a layup with 1.4 seconds left to rally No. 6 Louisville over the Commodores 62-60 in overtime on Friday night.
“It’s disappointing. We had this game and let it go,” Jenkins said. “Siva got a high ball screen and got into the lane and made a great play.”
Jenkins finished 9 of 15 from the field and 5 of 11 from 3-point range as the Commodores (5-3) took a nine-point lead midway through the second half and a five-point lead in overtime. They couldn’t hold on to either.
“They just made one more play than we did,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “We could have made a few less turnovers and a few more free throws.”
It was the first true road game for a Vanderbilt team that had been ranked seventh in the preseason poll – ahead of Louisville (7-0) at the time – and while the Cardinals have weathered injuries, the Commodores have struggled.
Vanderbilt is still without Festus Ezeli (right knee) for two more weeks and also lost Josh Henderson (left foot). Henderson is scheduled to have surgery Monday to put a screw in his foot and will miss eight to 12 weeks.
Louisville is missing Rakeem Buckles (right knee), Stephan Van Treese (left knee), Mike Marra (left knee), Wayne Blackshear (right shoulder) and Elisha Justice (broken nose).
Just like in an overtime loss to then-No. 11 Xavier when the Commodores gave away a 10-point lead at home, Vanderbilt squandered a big second-half advantage.
Jenkins’ jumper gave the Commodores a 43-34 lead, but Jeffery Taylor made a steal and missed a layup that would’ve pushed it to double digits.
Louisville answered with a 13-4 run that ended with Chane Behanan’s steal and slam that tied it with 2:28 left. With the game tied again in the closing seconds, Siva wound the clock down near halfcourt, then drove into the lane around Taylor and found Behanan down low.
Behanan took the ball to the floor once to slice across the lane, but missed the shot off the backboard and rim and slumped down in frustration at failing to hit the winner.
Jenkins scored the first five points of overtime, but Louisville rallied again.
Behanan answered with a three-point play. After the two teams traded a pair of free throws, Kyle Kuric, who finished with 15 points, hit a 3-pointer that gave Louisville a 58-57 lead.
Brad Tinsley tied it with a free throw before Kuric hit a jumper that set up the final sequence when Jenkins hit two free throws and Siva easily passed Lance Goulbourne down the lane, hitting a finger-roll layup with 1.4 seconds left.
“It’s my fault,” Stallings said. “We knew what they were going to do and we should’ve played it differently. That’s my one regret of the game. We should’ve adjusted our defense a little bit more. We could’ve done a little bit more to defend that play better.”
