Led by a career-high 30 points from Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt cruised to an 87-59 victory over Alcorn State at Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Myles Stute added 16 points, while Jordan Wright (11) and D.J. Harvey also hit double-figure scoring.

Pippen tied Wright and Isaac McBride with a team-high four assists.

The Commodores (4-2) hit a season-high 14 3-pointers, hitting 46.7 percent behind the arc. Five players hit at least one, including Pippen's five and Stute's four.

“Good win for us… trying a few things with the lineup, went a little smaller today," Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. "Rebounding was a little tougher today. … Thought we did some really good things as far as sharing the ball. … We’re trending in a good direction.”

Pippen was also happy with the win, which came off a 20-point loss at Davidson.

"The answer is playing tougher," he said. "Against Davidson, we didn’t come to play and we knew we had to come out and get the win,” Pippen said.

The Commodores had a 20-point halftime lead and was never threatened in the second half as Alcorn State never got closer than 18 after the break. Vandy's biggest lead came at the buzzer.

A Trey Thomas 3 put the Commodores up 18-6 just 6:48 into the game. A Max Evans dunk with 4:43 left before the break gave Vandy its first 20-point advantage.

Alcorn State (0-4) played without leading scorer Troymain Crosby (18.7 ppg) as well as Drexel transfer Kurk Lee, who scored 14 in the one game he played against UAB. The Braves' previous-closest game was a 33-point loss to Houston.

“The last few days have been rough," Pippen added later. "There’s a big emphasis on defense and rebounding and toughness. … Coach Stack just told us we had to come out and play tough. It’s not about Xs and Os, but who’s going to play tough.”

The Commodores tried some things to become less reliant on Pippen (more on those in a moment) but today proved that no matter what, the sophomore will be the focal point of the offense night-in and night-out.

Pippen's 30 points are a career high. They mark his fourth-straight 20-point game. He led the team with 32 minutes; nobody else played more than 20. He took 18 shots from the field, and the only real blemish was his four turnovers.

"He’s playing like and all-league player and maybe an All-American if he keeps it up," Stackhouse said.

Pippen entered Sunday as the second "most-used" player in the country for when he's on the floor, according to Ken Pomeroy, who defines "possession usage" as taking a shot without getting one's own rebound or turning the ball over. Pippen "used" 35.3% of Vandy's possessions coming into Sunday and left with a usage rate of 35.2%.

I asked Stackhouse how he felt about Pippen's usage rate going forward.

“I don’t know who KenPom is, all I know is what we do," Stackhouse responded, adding, ",.. as the season goes on, we need other guys to up their usage, whatever that means.”

It probably didn’t hurt that it was Alcorn State, but the Commodores’ offense flowed better in the first half on Sunday.

Stackhouse made an effort to rest Pippen more by starting Isaac McBride at the point, while Tyrin Lawrence--also a combo guard--also started. Vanderbilt rounded out its lineup giving Dylan Disu his first start at the five, with Harvey manning the four.

“Putting Isaac at the one expands my game,” Pippen said.

McBride didn't score in 18 minutes, but also tied a team high with two steals in addition to tying for the game high in assists. Stackhouse added that having McBride in the game allows Pippen to "... maybe jog down the floor on an offensive set."

The Commodores had assists on 11 of 17 first-half buckets, with three coming from Pippen. The ‘Dores hit seven first-half 3s and had a 13-0 edge in fast-break points before the break.

Freshman Myles Stute, who hadn’t played since the opener, got into the game early in the first half and canned a 3 on his first attempt. He hit another later in the first half and finished with 16 points in 19 minutes.

I asked Stackhouse about Stute's day afterwards.

“He made some shots," Stackhouse said. "Always good to make some shots. … It’s been a tough road for him… but now he’s starting to get his legs underneath him… I think it’ll help our rebounding numbers with him being able to get his hands on the ball. … It was good to see him out there and good reps for him.”

Stackhouse feels the freshmen will help Vanderbilt in rebounding, too.

Stackhouse wasn't pleased with what the Commodores with Clevon Brown--whom he'd planned to start at the five until Brown came up with an injury yesterday--out. Alcorn State gets out-rebounded by nine on average, but Vanderbilt won the battle on the glass just 37-34 on Sunday.

“More concern of me is the rebounding… if you guys have any suggestions send them to my inbox, I’ll take them," Stackhouse said.

Stackhouse speculated that Brown's injury could be an abdominal strain or a sports hernia, and said he didn't know if he'd have the fifth-year senior available for Vandy's Southeastern Conference opener against Florida on Dec. 30.

“Hopefully it’s not either one of those things but something minor," Stackhouse said.

Evans started the season 3-of-5 on 3-pointers against Valparaiso, and is 0-of-12 in the five games since.

"Our best defender is struggling with shooting the basketball right now. … He’s a guy who rebounds and guards the other team’s best player," Stackhouse said of Evans, who played 16 minutes against ASU.

Lawrence picked up two fouls in the first minute and sat out the rest of the half.

The game was played with no fans, as has been the case all season at Memorial.