Vanderbilt found the win column after an opening-night loss, defeating South Carolina Upstate 74-67 Friday night in Nashville, Tenn.
Tasos Kamateros led the Commodores with 21 points, and Ezra Manjon and Paul Lewis added 16 and 10, respectively. Vanderbilt (1-1) shot 45.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from 3-point range.
In the losing effort, USC Upstate (0-2) was led by 17 points apiece from Trae Broadnax and Miguel Ayesa. The Spartans shot 43.6 percent from the field and 50 percent (10-of-20) from 3-point range.
After trailing by four at halftime and continuing its slow start early in the second half, Vanderbilt was behind 42-41 with 11:10 remaining, but the Commodores produced some separation with a few timely 3-pointers by veteran transfers Evan Taylor and Kamateros.
For the second straight game, Vanderbilt was without Tyrin Lawrence, Ven-Allen Lubin and Lee Dort. From that trio, two are likely starters.
Lawrence was withheld due to what Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse called a foot sprain. Lubin has a hip sprain and Dort was sidelined due to a foot injury suffered this offseason.
Lawrence was selected as a second team All-Southeastern Conference player in the preseason by the league's coaches and projects to be among the Commodores' leading scorers.
Upstate led 31-27 after an ugly first half in which Vanderbilt shot 32 percent from the field and 1-for-12 from 3-point range. The Spartans capitalized by shooting 42.9 percent and making four 3-pointers. The difference was Vanderbilt's eight turnovers as opposed to USC Upstate's four.
Vanderbilt's slow start included a scoring drought of 5:01 and one of 3:52 in the first half, during which the Commodores scored only four points through the first 9:39 of the game.
It was largely the same story in the early second half until a 9-0 Vanderbilt run put the Commodores ahead 50-42. The Commodores followed that up a few minutes later with a 7-0 run led by Manjon and Kamateros.
--Field Level Media
South Carolina Upstate | Vanderbilt | |
Miguel Ayesa 17 | Scoring | Tasos Kamateros 21 |
Trae Broadnax 5 | Assists | Ezra Manjon 7 |
Trae Broadnax 6 | Rebounds | Colin Smith 9 |
Trae Broadnax 4 | Free Throws Made | Ezra Manjon 8 |
Nick Alves 2 | Steals | Ezra Manjon 1 |
Ahmir Langlais 2 | Blocks | Colin Smith 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
South Carolina Upstate | 67 | 43.6 | 10-20 | 9-13 | 12 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
Vanderbilt | 74 | 45.8 | 8-22 | 22-24 | 11 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 15 |