NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Visiting No. 24 Tennessee scored eight in a row to break a 60-60 tie and hold on for a 68-60 victory over Vanderbilt inside Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 18 points and Jordan Wright finished with 15 for the Commodores, but 21 turnovers did in the home team in the end.
Trey Thomas added 12 and Jamaine Mann pulled down seven rebounds.
Vandy (10-7, 2-3 SEC) goes back on the road to face Florida (10-6, 1-3 SEC) at noon CT Saturday.
On Tuesday, Kennedy Chandler’s three-point play put the Volunteers ahead 58-51 with 4:14 to go, matching Tennessee’s largest lead of the game at that point. Uros Plavsic’s jump hook in the lane moments later made it a 60-52 game.
Vandy crept within 60-57 on a Thomas 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:21 on the clock. Pippen’s triple from the left wing less than 20 seconds later knotted the score at 60-all.
But that would be the last time Vanderbilt would score.
Tennessee (12-5, 3-3 SEC) scored 19 points off Vandy’s miscues and had 16 second-chance points.
Vandy edged ahead 10-7 on thanks, in part, to seven early points from Wright. The two teams traded blows from there until a Thomas triple from the left wing allowed the Commodores to enjoy a 17-14 edge.
Vanderbilt suffered through a 4:09 scoreless spell after Thomas’ make but was still able to inch back in front 21-19 on Myles Stute’s four-point play at the 7:23 mark. Tennessee responded with a 6-0 run to get ahead 25-21 with a little less than five minutes remaining in the half.
Vandy used a 6-0 run of its own to retake the lead before the final 2 1/2 minutes saw two ties and three lead changes. Tennessee would have to settle for a 33-32 advantage at the break.
Pippen and Wright combined for 19 of Vanderbilt’s points, and the Commodores held a slight 20-19 rebounding edge, but eight turnovers hurt the home team over the first 20 minutes.
Quentin Millora-Brown’s two-handed slam off the pick-and-roll gave Vandy a 39-35 lead early in the second half. After Tennessee countered with a 10-2 run of its own, Thomas splashed a step-back 3 to put the Commodores back in front 44-43.
Plavsic’s three-point play with 7:41 to play gave Tennessee its largest lead of the night at that point at 50-45. It would enlarge to 54-47 less than a minute later. The Commodores whittled that margin down to 55-51 with 4:24 left to set up the final and decisive moments.
Santiago Vescovi led Tennessee with 14 points.
- Vanderbilt senior guard Drew Weikert made his first career start for the Commodores.
- Pippen Jr. (1,160) is now 38th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list after passing Babe Taylor (1,144) and Brett Burrow (1,149) during Tuesday’s game. Billy Joe Adcock (1,190) is 37th.
- Vanderbilt is now 75-127 in the all-time series against Tennessee and 58-53 in home games.
- Thomas has played in 42 straight games for the Commodores.
- Wright has started 32 straight games for Vanderbilt.
- Attendance on Tuesday was announced as 7,588.
Dores defeated by Vols in Final Minute by Vanderbilt Athletics on Exposure href=”https://exposure.co” style=”text-transform:uppercase”>Exposure
