The Vanderbilt Commodores are really comfortable playing at home in
Memorial Gym. Against Mississippi State on Wednesday night, they
almost got too cozy.
Jermaine Beal scored 17 points, and No. 18 Vanderbilt held
off the Bulldogs 75-72 on Wednesday night, the Commodores' 11th win
in 12 games.
"That was a little more interesting at the end than we wanted
it to be," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said.
Vanderbilt (17-4, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) bounced back
after losing their first league game last weekend at then-No. 1
Kentucky. The Commodores had been on the road for four of the first
six games in SEC play, and they looked very happy to be back home
before a sold-out crowd where they hadn't lost this season.
But this hasn't been an easy series for the Commodores with
Mississippi State having won seven of the past 10.
The Bulldogs (16-6, 4-3) almost did it again, fighting back
from a 14-point deficit to get within 73-72 with 28.6 seconds left
on a 3-pointer by Dee Bost. Vanderbilt's John Jenkins made two free
throws with 6.8 seconds remaining, then Bost missed a 3 before
Romero Osby of the Bulldogs missed two free throws with 1 second
left.
"We had some dumb plays, but at the same time they were
making shots," Beal said. "We have a lot of improvement that we can
work on in that area."
Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said his Bulldogs
never panicked because it doesn't take long to catch up these days,
especially with the Bulldogs hitting an SEC-best nine 3s per game.
"We never gave up. When it comes down to one play on the road
-- winning or losing -- as a coach you'll take that. We just
couldn't make the right play at the right time," Stansbury said.
A.J. Ogilvy added 16 points for Vanderbilt, while Jenkins had
12 and Brad Tinsley 11. The Commodores are 6-1 in SEC play for the
first time since 1992-93.
Jarvis Varnado had 12 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks --
seven in the second half -- for the Bulldogs. Kodi Augustus had 15
points, Barry Stewart 13 and Bost 12. Varnado and Stewart set the
school record by playing in their 127th game. The Bulldogs have
lost three of four.
"He has really good timing," Ogilvy said of Varnado, a
Tennessee native. "Long arms, sees the ball really well and he is
able to block a lot of shots."
The Bulldogs brought in the nation's third-stingiest scoring
defense, holding opponents to 36.5 percent shooting. Vanderbilt
features the SEC's best shooters in league play, and the Commodores
shot 44.6 percent despite going cold late, not scoring from the
field after Festus Ezeli's dunk with 4 minutes left.
The Commodores did hit 4 of 6 at the free-throw line to
preserve the win.
Stallings said his team committed 11 different mistakes as
they started playing not to lose.
"We got tentative with the basketball and got careless with
our passes and had our turnovers. We just had no flow going on
offense," he said.
Jenkins made what he called a freshman mistake at the end. He
was supposed to dribble back out, trying to run out the clock.
"It won't happen again," Jenkins said.
Vanderbilt led 38-31 at halftime and led twice by 14 points
-- matching the Bulldogs' biggest deficit this season. Beal's
bucket matched the Commodores' biggest lead at 69-55 with 4:40
left. That's when Stewart got going, scoring the next 11 points for
the Bulldogs including three 3s.
"The crowd got quiet, they got on the edge of their seats,"
Stewart said of his spurt. "It felt good. But unfortunately we
didn't pull it off."
Bost hit the first of two free throws to pull Mississippi
State within 73-69 with 1:27 remaining. Varnado got the rebound,
but Stewart missed a jumper with 1:11 to go. Bost stole the ball
from Beal, then came down and hit a 3 from the right corner with 28
seconds left to trim the lead to 73-72.
That was as close as they could get.
Vanderbilt looked ready to blow out the Bulldogs in the
opening minutes, jumping out 9-3 lead. Mississippi State settled
down, and the teams gave a glimpse of the furious finish with six
ties and six lead changes. The last tie came at 29 when Phil Turner
scored on a putback with 4:04 left.
