Commodores drop 84-81 heartbreaker to Mississippi State
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt competed with Mississippi State – a team much more athletic and physical than itself – from start to finish on Saturday, but the Bulldogs were able to come away with an 84-81 win at Memorial Gymnasium.
Excellent 3-point shooting — Vanderbilt was 15-of-33, and got 3s from Trey Thomas and Dylan Disu in the final 18 seconds — kept the Commodores close. But a critical Scotty Pippen turnover with three seconds left and Vandy trailing by two kept the 'Dores from closing.
State dominated the paint, out-scoring Vanderbilt by a 42-18 count there.
"In both of our last games, we didn't have great beginnings to the second half," Disu said. "I think we need to have the same energy that we have in the first half in the second half. They went on a run, just like Kentucky did, so I think just coming out in the second half more ready to play and continuing to compete at a high level, we'll be all right."
The two sides exchanged baskets early, as the scoreboard was even at 6-6 at the 17:29 mark of the opening half. The Commodores began to heat up – knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers from Disu and Thomas – to take a 14-8 lead, and another by Thomas made it 17-11 at the 12:56 mark.
A 10-2 run – highlighted by a pair of Jalen Johnson 3s – put the Bulldogs up 25-24 with 7:55 remaining in the half, and Tolu Smith’s layup made it 32-27 before State took a tight 36-35 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
"We had a good first half," Disu said. "I think we played really well in the pick-and-rolls in the first half, trying to speed them up and trap them and force them into turnovers. In the second half, I thought their guards came out a little bit more aggressive, and we kind of got beat up a little bit inside. That really hurt us today late down the stretch."
D.J. Harvey’s 3 cut Vanderbilt’s deficit to just 40-38 two minutes into the second half, but Johnson netted another triple to make it 48-42 MSU at the 15:48 mark.
The Bulldogs put together a 10-2 spurt to build a 61-50 lead with 11:01 remaining, but the Commodores answered with a 10-0 run to get within 61-60 with 8:18 left.
Despite getting that close, State soon went back up 10 at 71-61 – and although Vandy continued to battle, the Bulldogs were able to hold off the ‘Dores for the tight victory.
VU (4-5 overall, 0-3 SEC) - after dropping two heartbreakers to Kentucky (77-74 on Tuesday) and Mississippi State – returns to action Tuesday on the road at Missouri. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Outside shooting improves
Vanderbilt wants to be a good outside shooting team. It just hasn’t been so far this season – until Saturday, that is.
Coming into the game shooting 33.8% from 3-point range with 9.4 triples made per game, the Commodores improved those numbers –including 7-of-18 (39%) in the first half.
Trailing 8-6 at the 16:32 mark of the first half, Disu and Thomas both made 3s to spark an 8-0 run for the ‘Dores, which put them up 14-8 at the time.
Six different ‘Dores made 3s for Vandy, led by 5 from Thomas – who finished 5-of-9 from deep.
"Just a tough, tough, hard-fought game," Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. "Our guys competed. We got down there a little bit late and still fought back. We had an opportunity to put ourselves in a position to win the game and had a tough bounce. I thought we did some really good things. We've just gotta keep fighting and get over the hump."
Thomas plays well
Although he’s just a freshman, Thomas has been a consistent player for Stackhouse so far this season.
Coming into Saturday averaging 5.9 points per game on 42.6% shooting in 20.4 minutes of action, Thomas ended up scoring 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting – including a 5-of-9 mark from 3-point range – to go along with 3 assists in 22 minutes.
He’s been a big factor off the bench, and maybe it’s time for him to become a usual starter for Vanderbilt.
Harvey starts to come out of slump
Harvey has been in a slump, but he’s – finally – starting to come out of it.
After shooting a combined 1-of-14 with just 4 total points against Florida and Kentucky, Harvey came alive for 13 points vs. Mississippi State. He shot 5-of-11 from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3 and registered 28 minutes on the court.
Harvey is a guy VU needs to become a consistent scorer, and his performance should give him a needed boost of confidence moving forward.
NOTES:
– Vanderbilt started Scotty Pippen Jr., Max Evans, D.J. Harvey, Dylan Disu and Quentin Millora-Brown.
– Clevon Brown (abdominal strain) and Issac McBride (ankle sprain) were both out with injuries.
– The game was played with only family members of coaches and players in attendance, as has been the case all season at Memorial Gymnasium due to COVID-19 protocols.
