Pippen Jr. leads Vanderbilt past Radford
Photo from Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball Twitter
Scotty Pippen Jr. had 25 points, seven assists and four steals as Vanderbilt beat Radford, 59-50, at Nashville on Saturday evening.
Pippen tied a career-high in points and led the Commodores in the other two categories.
His 3-pointer from the left side with 1:21 left gave the Commodores a 55-48 advantage. He assisted Quentin Millora-Brown for a lay-up with 30 seconds left, again giving Vanderbilt a seven-point lead.
Dagger 3 🗡 from @spippenjr.#StackhouseEra | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/qpHzldjU0j
— Vanderbilt Men's Basketball (@VandyMBB) December 20, 2020
Sinking 👌s to get win No. 3️⃣.@spippenjr scores 25 as the Commodores down Radford 59-50 inside Memorial.
🔗 https://t.co/hlIDED535w#StackhouseEra | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/6HLUZC7hJF
— Vanderbilt Men's Basketball (@VandyMBB) December 20, 2020
Dylan Disu added 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks for the Commodores (3-1).
Chryee Walker (15 points) and Shaquan Jules (12) led Radford in scoring.
The Highlanders (3-5) shot 43.8 percent from the field and outscored Vandy in the paint, 34-22, but had 19 turnovers to Vandy’s 13.
Pippen got Vandy off to a quick start after the break. On consecutive possessions, the sophomore canned a pair of free throws, drilled a 3 and then got into the lane and hit a contested lay-up with 17:39 left, giving Vanderbilt a 35-25 lead — the first double-digit advantage of the game for either side.
The Highlanders hung around. A Fah’Mir Ali steal lead to a Dante Moses lay-up, cutting Vanderbilt’s lead to 47-44 with 6:39 to play, but Radford couldn’t get closer.
Walker had 11 quick points out of the game for the Highlanders, outscoring the Commodores by himself when Vandy, trailing 15-10, took a time out at the 12:18 mark of the first half.
Vanderbilt took its first lead since an early 5-4 advantage after Millora-Brown’s dunk with 2:56 left in the first half put the Commodores up, 24-23.
The Highlanders shot 46.2 percent from the field in the first half, but missed all five of their first-half free throws, while the Commodores were just 1 of 4 at the foul line and 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
Walker’s 13th point in the first half set a career high.
Vanderbilt assistant coach Adam Mazarei directed the team on Saturday in place of head coach Jerry Stackhouse, who missed the game to attend his father’s funeral.
The Commodores, who’ve been struggling to find the right lineup combinations, got Clevon Brown and D.J. Harvey, who haven’t played since the opener, back for this one.
The pair started the first game of the season but came off the bench on Saturday, playing just five and 12 minutes, respectively.
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