Vanderbilt’s Jason Edwards came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points on Friday as the Commodores coasted past visiting Tennessee Tech 87-56 in Nashville, Tenn.
AJ Hoggard added 15 points and four assists for the Commodores (7-1), while Devin McGlockton pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and Chris Manon had a season-high 11 points.
Rodney Johnson Jr. led the Golden Eagles (4-4) with 11 points. Jaylon Johnson and Kyle Layton each scored nine. Tennessee Tech was outscored 21-4 in points off turnovers and was outrebounded 48-35.
Daniel Egbuniwe scored seven points and added three blocks and three steals for the Golden Eagles, who didn’t lead in the final 34:08.
Vanderbilt took the first double-digit lead of the day by either side (44-34) when Manon canned the first of two free throws with 17:12 left.
The Commodores, led by Hoggard, started to separate from there.
Hoggard hit a three with 16:15 left and then sprinted down the floor, taking a long pass off a McGlockton rebound for an easy layup on the other end 28 seconds later, putting Vanderbilt up 16. Tyler Tanner’s open-court steal and fastbreak layup with 14:23 remaining capped an 11-0 run and expanded the lead to 56-36.
The Commodores engineered another 11-point flurry, which Tyler Nickel and Edwards capped with 3-pointers to make it 75-49 with 3:48 to go. Vanderbilt led by as many as 32 from there.
With the game tied at 11, Edwards canned a 3-pointer from the left side and then Tanner hit one 15 seconds later, putting the Commodores up for the rest of the half.
Edwards scored 12 points in the first half as Vanderbilt outrebounded the Golden Eagles 23-15 to take a 39-30 lead into the break. Edwards briefly went to the locker room in the first half with what appeared to be pain on or near his left knee, but returned and scored the half’s final four points.
–Field Level Media
