National Basketball Association
Vanderbilt 99, Western Carolina 79
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Where: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Patrick Adams, # James Breeding, # Antinio Petty
Attendance:
7504
By SportsDirect Inc.
Vanderbilt 99, Western Carolina 79: Riley LaChance tied his career-high with 26 points, including 5-of-8 3-pointers, as the host Commodores rallied from a 12-point first half deficit to defeat the Catamounts.
James Siakam scored 20 points and a game-high seven rebounds and Damian Jones added 16 points for Vanderbilt (7-2). The Commodores sank a season-high 38 free throws on 43 attempts.
Rhett Harrelson scored 22 points, including 6-of-8 3-pointers, to lead Western Carolina (3-7), which shot a blistering 62.1 percent from the floor in the first half and 52.6 percent for the game. Torrion Brummitt finished with 17 points and Justin Browning and Mike Brown each added 14 points for the Catamounts, who finished with 11 steals and forced 18 Vanderbilt turnovers.
Harrelson, making his first start of the season, scored 14 points in the first 11 minutes and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range to help propel the Catamounts to a 28-16 lead. But LaChance, coming off a 26-point outing in a 81-71 win over Purdue on Saturday, hit three 3-pointers in a two-minute span to help the Commodores close within 44-41 at halftime.
Vanderbilt regained the lead 47-46 early in the second half on a pair of free throws by Jones and took control a few minutes later with a 12-0 run that featured nine points by LaChance, including a pair of 3-pointers, to go ahead 67-53. The Commodores broke the game open a few minutes later with another 11-0 run featuring a highlight-reel dunk by Shelton Mitchell to increase their lead to 80-59, and Western Carolina never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanderbilt finished with a 34-18 rebounding edge, including 13 offensive boards that led to 20 second chance points. ... The Commodores shot 69.6 percent in the second half. ... Western Carolina fell to 2-40 all-time against SEC teams, including 0-3 this season.
Top Game Performances
| Western Carolina |
|
Vanderbilt |
|
Rhett Harrelson 22 |
Scoring |
Riley LaChance 26 |
|
James Sinclair 5 |
Assists |
Shelton Mitchell 5 |
|
Justin Browning 5 |
Rebounds |
James Siakam 7 |
|
Mike Brown 4 |
Free Throws Made |
James Siakam 12 |
|
James Sinclair 3 |
Steals |
Jeff Roberson 2 |
|
Charlendez Brooks 1 |
Blocks |
Luke Kornet 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Western Carolina
|
79 |
52.6 |
8-17 |
11-17 |
16 |
16 |
2 |
11 |
14 |
| Vanderbilt
|
99 |
55.3 |
9-19 |
38-43 |
15 |
31 |
4 |
5 |
18 |
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