Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 22 points and dished out six assists as the Commodores knocked off Texas A&M 79-68 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Wednesday in Nashville.

The Aggies controlled Pippen from the field (3 of 17), but the All-SEC point guard shot 15 of 15 from the foul line.

D.J. Harvey (17 points) and Maxwell Evans (12) chipped in double-figure scoring for 12th-seeded Vanderbilt (9-15). The Commodores hit 12 of 34 3-point attempts (35.3 percent) while sinking 21 of its 24 free throws (87.5 percent).

Emanuel Miller (22 points, 11 of 16 from the floor, nine rebounds), Jay Jay Chandler (11 points), Hassan Diarra (10) and Quenton Jackson (10) paced the 13th-seeded Aggies (8-10).

The Commodores (9-15) will meet fifth-seeded Florida in the second round on Thursday afternoon.

Vanderbilt led 45-32 with 16:17 to play after the Aggies gave Pippen a gift, goaltending on a layup he was going to miss while fouling him to set up a three-point play.

However, the Aggies intensified their pressure and tied the game at 45 on Chandler's 3-pointer from NBA distance with 12:01 left.

Vanderbilt finally answered with Myles Stute's trey to retake the lead with 10:48 left, and the Commodores never trailed again.

A Trey Thomas 3-pointer with 6:48 to play extended the lead to 60-49.

Texas A&M closed within four on a Miller layup with 4:09 left, but again Thomas answered with a 3-pointer and the Aggies never threatened again.

Vanderbilt, playing three miles from campus, looked right at home in the first half.

The Commodores held a 37-27 lead at the break thanks to 12 from Evans and nine from Pippen. The Commodores shot 38.9 percent from 3-point range (7 of 18) in the first half.

Texas A&M's Miler shot 5-for-6 from the floor en route to 10 points, but his teammates were only 6-for-25.

--Field Level Media