Vanderbilt 67, Auburn 59: Dai-Jon Parker hit five 3-pointers en route to a career-high 21 points as the visiting Commodores rallied to knock off the Tigers.
Damian Jones scored 14 points and Luke Kornet added 10 points off the bench for Vanderbilt (15-11, 7-7 SEC), which has won 10 straight in the series dating to the 2006-07 season. The Commodores began their rally with their top two scorers — Rod Odom and Kyle Fuller — on the bench in favor of walk-ons Nathan Watkins (seven points) and Carter Josephs (nine assists).
Chris Denson and KT Harrell scored 13 apiece for Auburn (12-13, 4-10), which shot 33.9 percent overall and was 4-for-24 from beyond the arc. Asauhn Dixon-Tatum and Allen Payne each tallied 11 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers.
Held scoreless for the first 29 minutes, Odom found his stroke during a pivotal stretch, putting the Commodores ahead 49-48 with his first basket of the game and hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch it to 58-50 with just over eight minutes left. The Tigers clawed back within 58-57 with a little over five minutes remaining, but Fuller converted a three-point play and knocked down a 3-pointer — his only six points of the night — to spark a 9-0 spurt.
The Tigers lead was as large as 16 in the first half after a 9-0 spurt, but Auburn went more than six minutes without a field goal as Vanderbilt closed the gap to 32-25 at halftime. Auburn re-established the double-digit margin early in the second half but Parker's outside shooting quickly brought the Commodores back as he hit three straight 3-pointers during a 12-0 burst that gave Vanderbilt its first lead at 40-38.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in all 891 games it has played since the inception of the 3-point shot in 1986, one of only three teams to do so. … The Commodores improved to 8-0 this season when making more 3-pointers than the opposition. … Denson and Harrell entered the game averaging a combined 39.6 points, the second-highest scoring duo in the nation.
Vanderbilt | Auburn | |
Dai-Jon Parker 21 | Scoring | Chris Denson 13 |
Carter Josephs 9 | Assists | Tahj Shamsid-Deen 5 |
James Siakam 9 | Rebounds | Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 9 |
Damian Jones 6 | Free Throws Made | Chris Denson 7 |
Kyle Fuller 2 | Steals | Chris Denson 2 |
James Siakam 2 | Blocks | Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Vanderbilt | 67 | 44.2 | 11-26 | 10-17 | 18 | 33 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
Auburn | 59 | 33.9 | 4-24 | 13-16 | 10 | 37 | 3 | 8 | 11 |