Jordan Wright scored 16 points Wednesday night as host Vanderbilt never trailed and cruised to a 91-72 rout of Alabama State in Nashville.
Scotty Pippen Jr. added 15 along with Jamaine Mann in his Vanderbilt debut after transferring from Gardner-Webb. Myles Stute contributed 13 and freshman Peyton Daniels chipped in eight in his collegiate debut for Vanderbilt, which won easily while missing transfers Rodney Chatman (knee) and center Liam Robbins (foot).
The Commodores opened coach Jerry Stackhouse’s third season by never trailing and shooting 45.3 percent and hitting a combined 19 layups and dunks. Vanderbilt also got 11 steals and scored 26 points off 24 Alabama State turnovers to improve to 12-0 all-time against SWAC conference opponents.
Coming off a 79-74 loss at Western Kentucky on Tuesday, Alabama State never trailed by less than seven points after inching out of its early double-digit deficit.
Trace Young, who scored 23 points in his debut Tuesday, led Alabama State with 11 points. Jordan O’Neal and Juan Reyna added 10 apiece for the Hornets, who shot a respectable 50 percent but also took eight fewer shots than Vanderbilt and allowed 22 second-chance points.
Vanderbilt opened a 16-3 lead when Stute hit his second 3-pointer a little over five minutes in, but Alabama State made a small comeback and was within 25-18 on a 3-pointer by Gerald Liddell with 6:45 left. The Commodores outscored Alabama State 11-5 in the final 3:44 and held a 42-27 halftime lead after Tyrin Lawrence converted an errant pass into a dunk with 13 seconds left.
Vanderbilt stretched the lead to 48-27 in the opening minutes of the second half on a layup by Lawrence and Alabama State got within 57-43 with about 13 1/2 minutes left. The Commodores clinched it when Daniels capped a 19-6 run by hitting a 3-pointer with 8:07 remaining for a 76-49 lead.
–Field Level Media
