Vanderbilt’s Liam Robbins scored 20 points and teammate Tyrin Lawrence made two crucial baskets after Fresno State rallied for the lead, helping the Commodores earn a 67-59 victory on Thursday in the consolation game of the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif.
Lawrence finished with 19 points and Myles Stute posted 16 points for Vanderbilt (3-3).
After a back-and-forth stretch, Lawrence scored on consecutive possessions as Vanderbilt built a 60-57 edge with 2:35 to go.
Robbins made two free throws with 2:02 left to extend the advantage, and the Commodores converted on three more free throws before Fresno State halted the run.
Robbins, who shot 7-for-11 from the field, also was credited with eight of his team’s nine blocked shots.
Fresno State (1-5) lost its fifth game in a row despite Jemarl Baker Jr.’s 22 points. Isaih Moore and Eduardo Andre added 10 points apiece for the Bulldogs, who shot just 4-for-23 on 3-point attempts. Baker was 8-for-20 from the field, though only 1-for-8 from long distance.
Fresno State had a 45-35 rebounding edge courtesy of 12 boards each from Moore and Andre.
Vanderbilt scored its last seven points on free throws, and the Commodores ended up 15-for-22 at the foul line. They shot 40.7 percent from the field and hit 8 of 23 3-point tries.
After Eduardo’s layup with 4:23 to play, Fresno State went almost four minutes before scoring another field goal.
Vanderbilt went up 44-33 early in the second half and then went more than three minutes without scoring.
Fresno State used a 10-0 run to build a 49-46 lead. Vanderbilt was back in front after 3-point baskets from Stute and Lawrence.
Vanderbilt scored the last eight points — all in the last 70 seconds — of the first half to take a 31-26 lead to the break.
Fresno State shot 31.4 percent from the floor while making just 1 of 12 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. For the game, the Bulldogs hit 34.8 percent of their field-goal attempts.
The game featured 10 lead changes and six ties.
–Field Level Media