No. 18 Vanderbilt, led by Tyler Tanner’s 24 points, led the whole way and withstood two missed 3-pointers on Ole Miss’s last possession to get a 71-68 win over the Rebels in Nashville on Saturday evening.
The Commodores (19-3, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) got 17 points from AK Okereke, who was 11 of 13 on free throws. The last one came as he hit one of two in the double bonus for the game’s final point.
Ole Miss (11-10, 3-5) was led in scoring by Malik Dia and AJ Storr (16 each) and got 15 from Ilias Kamerdine. Dia and Storr, the Rebels’ leading scorers, had the misses on the game’s last possession.
This wasn’t the Vanderbilt that’s been one of the fastest-paced and highest-scoring offenses in the country much of the year. Injuries to guards Frankie Collins and Duke Miles left Tanner as Vanderbilt’s only true point guard, leaving the Commodores content to slow their half-court offense to a crawl and let Tanner work off the dribble or have Okereke back down defenders in the paint.
A Mike James three with 2:05 left gave the Commodores the distance they needed to hang on at the end.
Tanner’s 10 points led all scorers as the Commodores had a 31-23 lead at the break.
The Rebels had an awful first half, with nine turnovers, eight field goals and no assists, playing 12 men by the 6:11 media time out (the number reached 13 by half) as little clicked. They trailed 25-12 after Vanderbilt’s Tyler Harris got a steal and a fast-break dunk with 5:50 left.
But Vanderbilt went on a scoring drought and got in foul trouble, with four key players each picking up two fouls, forcing the Commodores into a zone for spells as the Rebels went into the bonus with 3:53 left.
–Field Level Media
