Guard Duke Miles scored 20 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 105-93 nonconference victory over UCF on Saturday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.
Miles finished 8 of 13 from the floor, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers, along with three assists and one steal.
Tyler Nickel, Tyler Tanner and Frankie Collins had 17 points apiece, with Collins chipping in five rebounds, five assists and three steals off the bench. Tyler Harris added 14 points.
Vanderbilt (2-0) shot 55.9 percent from the field and 14 of 36 (38.9%) from behind the 3-point arc.
Mississippi State transfer Riley Kugel posted a career-high-tying 25 points for UCF (1-1). Chris Johnson had 17 points and Jamichael Stillwell totaled 15 points and six rebounds.
UCF took a 15-14 lead on George Beale Jr.’s layup at the 12:30 mark, but Vanderbilt answered with a 10-point flurry. Harris hit a 3-pointer and a layup, Jalen Washington tipped in a Harris miss and Nickel drilled a 3-pointer to make it 24-15.
Kugel kept the home side in the game with 11 points, including netting all three of his long-range shots.
Vanderbilt maintained a lead of around 11 points for most of the half, but the SEC school’s late sharpshooting enabled them to build a 52-36 lead by the break.
The Commodores sizzled on 10 of 19 (52.6%) shooting from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes while UCF hit 5 of 8
Vanderbilt continued to pour it on in the second half and grew the lead to a game-high 27 points, 71-44, on Devin McGlockton’s putback with 13:51 left in the game.
However, UCF made a push and got it to single digits at 84-75 on Johnson’s trey with 5:48 to go. The Commodores responded with a Miles layup and a Nickel 3-point play to reassert control.
–Field Level Media
