Sloppy play dooms Vanderbilt as Grambling State upsets Commodores

Vanderbilt suffered its second loss of the season as a double-digit home favorite, as Grambling State knocked off Vanderbilt, 64-62, in Nashville's Memorial Gymnasium on Friday night.

Vanderbilt turned the ball over 19 times to Grambling State's seven, as the scrappy Tigers endured foul trouble and Liam Robbins's missed 3 at the buzzer.

Grambling State (6-3) survived a huge foul differential as it was whistled for 24 of them against Vandy's 14. The Tigers' two leading scorers coming in--Carte’are Gordon and Cameron Christon--both fouled out, as did Jonathan Aku.

Vanderbilt (5-5) played without starter Jordan Wright, who was sidelined with some combination of back issues and a hip pointer.

Guard Tyrin Lawrence scored 15, Colin Smith added 13, while Trey Thomas and Robbins each pitched in 12 for Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt's defensive breakdown on an inbounds pass led to a Malik Lamin dunk with 1:27 to play, giving the Tigers a 61-60 advantage. Lawrence tried to counter with a dunk that Lamin blocked.

Following a scrambled possession in the final seconds, Grambling's Jourdan Smith grabbed a rebound off Shawndarius Cowart's miss. Smith hit the first of two free throws for the game's final point as Robbins mis-fired on a contested 3 at the buzzer.

Vanderbilt had won all 13 meetings with Southeastern Athletic Conference teams until this one.

It was Grambling State's (6-3) second win over a Power Five team this year after the Tigers knocked off Colorado in Grambling.

Earlier in the season, the Commodores lost as double-figure favorites to Southern Miss.

Vandy is now 3-4 at home.

Vandy snapped the Tigers' 8-0 run when Lawrence canned two free throws with 35.7 seconds left to get within a point.

Grambling State nearly turned it over on its final possession under heavy Vanderbilt pressure. Instead, the Tigers' Jourdan Smith picked up an offensive rebound and was fouled with 3.5 seconds left.

Smith hit the first of two free throws, leading to a Vanderbilt rebound, a time out and eventually, Robbins' miss.

Vanderbilt never led until Lawrence connected with a dunk with 19:02 left. The Commodores' biggest lead was three with 1:58 remaining.

Vandy trailed 27-24 at the half, playing like a team in the midst of exams. Thirteen Vandy turnovers came in the first half, when Grambling State took a 14-2 lead amidst eight Commodores turnovers and just three field-goal tries.

Wright sat this one out in street clothes. He was joined by reserve guard Paul Lewis, who's missed his seventh-straight game with a concussion.