National Basketball Association
Vanderbilt 66, Mississippi St. 56
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Where: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# James Breeding, # Anthony Jordan, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
8685
By SportsDirect Inc.
Vanderbilt 66, Mississippi State 56: Freshman
Riley LaChance scored 15 points as the host Commodores overcame their third
straight 11-point first-half deficit to earn a regular-season split with the
Bulldogs.
James Siakam added 12 points and a team-high seven
rebounds for Vanderbilt (18-12, 8-9 SEC), which has won four straight and seven
of its last nine games. The Commodores, who also received 11 points and seven
assists from Wade Baldwin IV and 11 points off the bench from Damian Jones,
shot 55.3 percent from the floor, including 8-of-17 from 3-point range, to
overcome 15 turnovers and a 6-of-13 performance at the free-throw stripe.
Craig Sword had 20 points to pace Mississippi
State (12-18, 5-12), which suffered its fifth straight setback. Gavin Ware
added 12 points and Roquez Johnson and I.J. Ready added eight apiece for the
Bulldogs, who were outrebounded 27-19 and committed 17 turnovers.
Mississippi State took a 36-32 lead into the
second half, but saw Vanderbilt come out on fire, hitting six of its first
seven shots in a 14-4 run to take a 46-40 lead. Both teams, though, endured second-half
scoring droughts of more than seven minutes, but the hosts were able to close
out the game with a 10-2 run after the Bulldogs got within 56-54 with five minutes
remaining.
It was a back-and-forth contest early before
Mississippi State used an 8-0 run to take its largest lead at 28-17 with 9:18
to play in the half. Vanderbilt, though, fought back to pull even at 32 with
two minutes left, but the Bulldogs scored the final four points to take the
four-point lead into the break.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanderbilt has gone 42-of-85 from
the 3-point arc over its last four games. … Mississippi State hit 6-of-8
3-pointers in the first half but missed both of its long-range attempts in the
final 20 minutes. … Siakam and reserves Josh Henderson and Shelby Moats were
honored on the Commodores’ Senior Night.
Top Game Performances
| Mississippi St. |
|
Vanderbilt |
|
Craig Sword 20 |
Scoring |
Riley LaChance 15 |
|
Trivante Bloodman 4 |
Assists |
Wade Baldwin IV 7 |
|
Roquez Johnson 4 |
Rebounds |
James Siakam 7 |
|
Craig Sword 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Damian Jones 3 |
|
I.J. Ready 2 |
Steals |
Wade Baldwin IV 1 |
|
Roquez Johnson 1 |
Blocks |
Damian Jones 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mississippi St.
|
56 |
46.2 |
6-10 |
14-20 |
9 |
14 |
2 |
6 |
17 |
| Vanderbilt
|
66 |
55.3 |
8-17 |
6-13 |
16 |
24 |
6 |
4 |
15 |
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