Commodores Hang Close But Come Up Short In Loss At Auburn
Vanderbilt had a chance to pull a shocking upset of the undefeated and 5th ranked Auburn Tigers but it was not to be as the Tigers survived a valiant Commodore effort to walk away with an 83-79 win.
Trailing 82-79 with just 22.8 left to play, the Commodores set up to inbound with a chance to cut the lead to two or tie with a three but they inexplicably turned it over on the inbounds pass allowing Auburn to hold on in the end.
The Commodores got off to a good start in the first half as they were able to take an early lead and then trade baskets and the lead through the first ten minutes of the game before an Anfernee McLemore basket gave the Tigers a 3 point advantage.
The Tigers would extend to a five-point advantage but the Commodores would fight back to trim the margin to one before the Tigers once again extended back to a five-point margin.
Back-to-back baskets by Saben Lee kept the Commodores close when Issac Okoro knocked down a three-point basket to push the Tigers advantage to four. Not to be outdone, Lee answered with a three of his own at the other end to cut the Auburn advantage to 34-33.
The Commodores would once again endure a scoring drought, going the final 3:14 of the half without a basket yet managed to trail just 42-38 at intermission.
Lee led the Commodores in the first half with 14 points while Okoro led the Tigers with 17 in the half.
The Commodores shot 50% from both the field (12-24) and three-point line (5-10) in the first twenty minutes. Auburn struggled from the floor, shooting 48% (15-31) from the floor and 36% (4-11) from behind the arc.
The second half began with Lee knocking down a driving, underhand shot to trim the lead to two, but from there the Tigers began a 9-0 run to take a 51-40 lead. The Tigers run coincided with another two-plus minute scoring drought from the Commodores.
Vanderbilt would manage to battle back, cutting the lead to six but again it would be Okoro whose thunderous driving dunk woke the sleeping crowd and gave the Tigers another 11 point advantage at 60-49.
Vanderbilt trailed 64-53 at the halfway mark of the half. Still, the Commodores managed to stay within striking distance, cutting the leas to 69-61 on a Jordan Wright basket with 6:09 left to play.
The Commodores continued to battle, cutting the lead to just four after a Lee three and a Nesmith drive to the basket for a layup to cut the Tigers advantage to 72-69 with just 3:27 remaining.
Down 75-69 Nesmith connected for three and was fouled, but missed the free-throw, leaving the score 75-72.
Trailing 78-72 it was Nesmith again form three to pull the Commodores to within three before Wright drove to the basket on the ensuing possession to cut the Tigers advantage to just one with 1:07 left to play.
The Commodores then tied the game at 79-79 on two Jordan Wright free throws with under one minute left to play.
Auburn would take an 82-79 advantage into a Commodores timeout with just 22.8 left to play and inexplicably turned it over on the inbounds pass allowing Auburn to hold on in the end.
The Commodores finished the game shooting 50% (26-52) from the floor and 59% 10-17) from beyond the arc.
Lee led the Commodores scorers with 27 while Nesmith finished with 18 and Wright with 10.
Okoro led four Tigers in double figures with 23 and Austin Wiley finished with a double-double, tossing in 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as he was the difference inside down the stretch.
Vanderbilt produced their best game of the season even in a loss as the Commodores produced a season-low nine turnovers in the contest, and they competed till the end against one of the best teams in the nation.
The Commodores return to Nashville to host the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday afternoon in a 2:30 pm tipoff at Memorial Gym.
