National Basketball Association
Vanderbilt 72, Mississippi State 51
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 13, 2021
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi
Officials:
# Steve Oglesby, # James Baker, # Owen Shortt
Attendance:
N/A
By Field Level Media
Scotty Pippen recorded 18 points and nine assists as Vanderbilt whipped Mississippi State 72-51 in Starkville, Miss., in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
The Commodores controlled the game as Mississippi State led for only 56 seconds. The Bulldogs never got within 12 in the second half.
Max Evans (20 points), Clevon Brown (15) and Dylan Disu (eight points, 10 rebounds) also played well for Vanderbilt (6-10, 2-8 SEC).
Vandy had advantages in turnovers forced (17-13) and rebounding (36-27). Mississippi State was just 2-of-4 from the line.
It's the first time in league play that the Commodores have held a team under 73 points.
Iverson Molinar (19 points) paced Mississippi State (11-11, 5-8) in scoring.
Vanderbilt led by 15 at half and didn't let up. It took a 20-point lead after Maxwell Evans buried a wide-open 3-pointer with 15:11 left on a kick-out from Quentin Millora-Brown.
It was at times a fast-paced first half. The first media time out didn't come until a stoppage with 13:22 left in the period.
Vanderbilt, which was 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from 3-point range in the first half, led 45-30 at the break behind Pippen's 16 first-half points, while Molinar had 13 for the Bulldogs.
The Commodores finished 13 of 30 from 3-point range, while Mississippi State was just 5 of 19.
Pippen, who was averaging 20.4 points coming in, had just 12 points in each of his previous two games. But he got off to a blazing start, hitting his first three shots (all 3-pointers) in the first 2:11.
Pippen then drove and fed Clevon Brown for a layup and an an-one as Vanderbilt led 12-9 early at the 16:28 mark.
After Mississippi State took the lead, Pippen's steal and a fast-break lay-up gave Vandy a 17-13 advantage.
State tied it at 28 on Molinar's reverse layup off D.J. Stewart Jr.'s assist with 5:03 left in the half.
But Vandy answered with a brisk scoring flurry to begin a 17-0 run.
Evans hit a 3, followed by Pippen's lay-up, a Disu 3 and then a Pippen 3 at the 3:20 mark for the biggest lead by either team (39-28) at that point.
After a time out, Clevon Brown and Evans each knocked down a pair of foul shots and Clevon Brown added a lay-up before Deivon Smith's jumper with two seconds left broke the run.
The Commodores avenged Mississippi State's 84-81 win in Nashville on Jan. 9, and snapped the Bulldogs' three-game winning streak in the series.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Vanderbilt |
|
Mississippi State |
|
Maxwell Evans 20 |
Scoring |
Iverson Molinar 19 |
|
Scotty Pippen Jr. 9 |
Assists |
Deivon Smith 6 |
|
Dylan Disu 10 |
Rebounds |
Iverson Molinar 6 |
|
Maxwell Evans 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Javian Davis 1 |
|
Clevon Brown 5 |
Steals |
Iverson Molinar 2 |
|
Maxwell Evans 1 |
Blocks |
Abdul Ado 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Vanderbilt
|
72 |
45.5 |
13-30 |
9-12 |
16 |
33 |
1 |
13 |
13 |
| Mississippi State
|
51 |
42.3 |
5-19 |
2-4 |
14 |
27 |
5 |
8 |
17 |
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