Tyler Tanner scored 24 points and No. 15 Vanderbilt ended a three-game losing streak by dominating Mississippi State from start to finish in an 88-56 victory Saturday in Starkville, Miss.
Tanner triggered a few surges and received plenty of help as Duke Miles added 17 points, Tyler Nickel had 13 and Devin McGlockton scored 10 for the Commodores (17-3, 4-3), who bounced back from their worst game of the season, a 93-68 loss at No. 20 Arkansas on Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt’s defense was much improved after allowing more than 90 points in each of its last two games. The Commodores had 10 steals and forced 17 turnovers, leading to 28 points.
Jayden Epps scored 14 off the bench to lead the Bulldogs (10-10, 2-5), who lost their fifth straight game. Leading scorer Josh Hubbard, who entered the game averaging 21.7 points, saw his recent slump continue. He finished with seven points after scoring 13 and 12 in the last two games.
Tanner made a 3-pointer and Nickel followed with a dunk to start the second-half scoring and put the Commodores in command with a 56-30 lead. Vanderbilt never allowed the lead to shrink below 20 points the rest of the way.
Tanner made a layup to break the only tie of the game (2-2) and the Commodores were off and running. That started a 10-0 run before Sergej Macura made a layup for the Bulldogs.
Tanner scored seven points during another 10-0 run that gave Vanderbilt a 22-4 lead. Epps and Hubbard each made a 3-pointer to help Mississippi State creep within 11 points.
Tanner and Nickel responded with consecutive 3-pointers and the lead reached 19 points before Epps made a jumper to end the Bulldogs’ field-goal drought of nearly six minutes.
The Commodores expanded the lead to 23 points, but Epps scored six points to help Mississippi State get within 15 points. The Bulldogs got within 15 a second time before Vanderbilt pushed the lead to 51-30 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
