Vanderbilt survived a sluggish shooting day thanks to 14 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks from Devin McGlockton, as the Commodores knocked off Southeast Missouri State, 85-76, at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday afternoon.
The Commodores got out-gunned badly from 3--SEMO hit 12-of-25 (48%) while Vanderbilt was just 3-of-25 (12%). But they were 32-of-41 (78%) from the foul line and out-rebounded the Redhawks, 53-31.
AJ Hoggard made his Vanderbilt debut, scoring 11 points and dishing out four assists in 23 minutes.
Jason Edwards scored 17, and Tyler Nickel added 11 for the Commodores (2-0).
Vanderbilt also got quality defense off the bench from Tyler Tanner, whose four first-half steals helped keep the Commodores in it.
BJ Ward led SEMO with 22 points.
Vanderbilt, which led 40-38 at half, took its first double-figure lead when Nickel canned a 3 from the right side for a 56-45 advantage with 16:10 remaining.
The Redhawks got an 8-0 spurt to get within three, but the fouls mounted and SEMO never got closer than six in the final five minutes.
Ward led all scorers with 14 halftime points, as SEMO hit 7-of-13 from distance in the first half compared to Vanderbilt’s 1-of-13.
Still, the Commodores led 40-38 at the break thanks to 14 offensive rebounds, with seven coming from McGlocton.
Tanner, who posted a plus-10 rating in the first half in 11 minutes, gave the Commodores a big lift on both ends (six points before the break).
SEMO jumped out to a 10-4 lead at the first media time out as the Commodores, who turned it over once in their opener, committed three turnovers in the first 4:10.
The Redhawks extended the lead to 16-6 after hitting 4-of-6 from distance during that span.
Hoggard quickly led an 8-0 run before the next media time out, the start of a bigger 17-4 run during which Vanderbilt took its first led of the game (22-20) when Nickel drove the right side, hit a lay-up, got fouled and hit the free throw with 8:30 left in the half.
Vanderbilt faces Cal (2-0) at Memorial Gymnasium at 7 Central on Wednesday.
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