Seeking back-to-back Southeastern Conference victories and its fifth win in a row, Vanderbilt will host South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tenn.
The Commodores (9-4, 1-0 SEC) won their conference opener for the first time under third-year coach Jerry Stackhouse on Tuesday, surviving a 75-74 thriller over Arkansas on the road.
Scotty Pippen Jr. paced Vanderbilt with 22 points as the Commodores prevailed despite Tyrin Lawrence missing a pair of free throws with nine seconds left after Arkansas’ J.D. Notae missed the potential winning 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds to go.
“I said a couple of days ago, we’re more confident and felt better going into SEC play,” Pippen said. “Tonight, it wasn’t the prettiest win, but we got the job done.”
Pippen fouled out with 41.5 seconds left in the game but Rodney Chatman made one of two free throws to give Vanderbilt what would be its winning margin.
Pippen leads Vanderbilt in scoring (18.4 points per game), assists (2.5) and steals (1.7) while Jordan Wright is averaging 12.5 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game.
It’s unclear whether the Gamecocks (9-4, 0-1), who have dropped two of their past three games, will have forward Keyshawn Bryant in their lineup after he injured his shoulder four minutes into their most recent game against Auburn.
Bryant, who is averaging 8.0 points and 1.8 blocks per game, suffered no structural damage to his shoulder, according to South Carolina coach Frank Martin.
“He’s been cleared for whatever he can tolerate,” Martin said. “Everyone’s different that way.”
South Carolina fell 81-66 to the Tigers in its conference opener on Tuesday after narrowing the gap to eight points with under seven minutes left. The Gamecocks committed three costly turnovers down the stretch, however, which allowed Auburn to pull away.
Erik Stevenson continues to pace South Carolina with 12.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, while Jermaine Couisnard (11.0 points) and Wildens Leveque (10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds) also are averaging double figures in scoring.
–Field Level Media
