NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the final home game for four Vanderbilt seniors, the Commodores would not be denied Saturday inside Memorial Gymnasium.
Five players scored in double figures and Vandy controlled the second half in a 75-70 win over visiting Ole Miss. Head coach Jerry Stackhouse’s team had 16 assists on 26 made shots, sank 11 3-pointers while shooting 53 percent overall.
Freshman Trey Thomas led the way for the Commodores with 14 points while Issac McBride and Maxwell Evans each had 13, Jordan Wright scored 12 and DJ Harvey added 10.
Up by as many as 10 late against the Rebels in the second half, Vanderbilt got three free throws from senior Clevon Brown in the final 34 seconds to ice the contest.
Senior Ejike Obinna added four points and a rebound and senior Isaiah Rice played four minutes and registered an assist.
The Commodores (7-13, 3-11 SEC) finish the regular season on the road next week starting with a trip to LSU (14-8, 9-6 SEC) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Play was evenly-matched early Saturday until five straight from Harvey put Vandy up 17-14. An Ole Miss timeout equated to a 8-0 Rebels’ run and 22-17 lead for the visitors with 7:33 to go in the first half.
Devontae Shuler’s baseline drive from the left side for an easy layup put Ole Miss up 27-20. Vanderbilt went more than six minutes with just one made field goal during the second half of the opening stanza.
But the Dores exploded for a quick 12-2 run that allowed them to edge ahead 32-29 at the 1:52 mark.
Vanderbilt would go into the break up 34-32 after shooting 48.1 percent and making five 3s. It also had eight assists on 13 made shots.
The Commodores came out hot in the second half and surged ahead 48-41 after McBride’s steal and layup with 13:37 to play. Ole Miss, however, responded with a 7-0 in two minutes to tie the game at 48-all.
Up 54-51 minutes later, Vandy scored six straight thanks to a Brown 3 from the right wing and a Thomas triple from the left corner putting the home team ahead 60-51 with 7:29 remaining.
McBride then connected on Vanderbilt’s 10th 3-ball of the night to put the Commodores up an even 10 at 63-53. Ole Miss, at that point, had just less than seven minutes to try to formulate a comeback.
They could not.
Devontae Shuler led Ole Miss (13-10, 8-8 SEC) with 25 points.
• Vanderbilt recognized Evans, Brown, Rice and Obinna as seniors prior to Saturday’s contest.
• Evans, Rice, Brown, Obinna and Wright started Saturday’s game for Vanderbilt. That marked the 14th different starting lineup for the Commodores in 2020-21.
• Vanderbilt has now made at least four 3s in 35 consecutive games.
• Vandy is now 7-2 this season when tied or leading at halftime.
• The Commodores are now 78-47 all-time against Ole Miss.
• In the last six contests, Evans is 17-for-33 from 3.
• Harvey scored in double figures Saturday for the first time since Jan. 23.
