Scotty Pippen Jr. had 16 points and Vanderbilt never trailed in a 77-51 non-conference victory over Austin Peay on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Quentin Millora-Brown supplied 13 points and 14 rebounds and Trey Thomas had 11 points for the Commodores (6-4). Vanderbilt turned 18 Austin Peay turnovers into 16 points and converted 18 offensive rebounds into 26 points.
Caleb Stone-Carrawell led the Governors (4-6) with 16 points. Cameron Copeland tossed in 11 points and Corbin Merritt added nine points and five rebounds.
Vanderbilt shot 45.2 percent from the field, while Austin Peay made 35.8 percent of its attempts.
Vanderbilt led 37-23 at halftime, fueled by its offensive rebounding. The Commodores grabbed 10 offensive boards in the first 20 minutes and turned them into 13 second-chance points. By contrast, Austin Peay secured just one offensive rebound.
Both teams shot poorly from deep, with Vanderbilt missing 13 of 15 3-point tries and the Governors knocking down just two of their 12 attempts beyond the arc before the break. Pippen was the lone player in double figures with 11 points.
Vanderbilt scored the game’s first eight points, including a putback from Millora-Brown.
Rodney Chatman’s layup provided the Commodores with their first double-digit lead at 15-4. A 10-2 run stretched the advantage to 19, 31-12, with five minutes left in the half. Pippen and Millora-Brown contributed four points apiece during that spurt.
The Governors got within 10 with a 9-0 run late in the half, including six points from Merritt. Pippen made a steal and dunk in the final minute.
The second half was scoreless for nearly three minutes until Stone-Carrawell’s layup cut the Commodores’ lead to 37-25.
With the score 42-28, Vanderbilt reeled off 11 unanswered points to put the game away. That outburst included 3-pointers by Pippen, Shane Dezonie and Thomas along with a layup from Jamaine Mann.
–Field Level Media