Vanderbilt pulls away from South Carolina -- finally
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- John Jenkins netted 21 points for Vanderbilt, and Festus Ezeli added 14, as the Commodores downed last-place South Carolina 59-48 at Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
The 'Dores couldn't shake the 10-16 Gamecocks until the game's final five minutes, when VU took advantage of a huge free throw edge to slowly build the lead.
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Carolina shot just four foul shots, making all of them, while VU connected on 25 of its 28 attempts.
Ezeli was also a huge factor on the defensive end, with all five of his blocks and his one steal coming in the second half. Most of those came as USC tried to make a late charge, but couldn't.
Vanderbilt struggled to find any offensive consistency in the first half due to South Carolina's 2-3 zone, and found itself deadlocked with the Gamecocks 22-all at half. Jenkins had 10 of VU's points.
VU improved to 20-8, and 9-4 in the Southeastern Conference.