Commodores Blown out of Oxford as Ole Miss Rolls
Oxford, Ms.- It was over before the midway point of the first half as the Ole Miss Rebels manhandled the Vanderbilt Commodores en route to an 86-60 thrashing at The Pavillion in Oxford.
The first half was a tale to three runs, as the Rebels opened the game running out to a 13-1 lead. Vanderbilt responded with a 13-0 run of their own and took a 15-13 lead.
From there it was all Ole Miss the final twelve minutes of the half as the Rebels rolled over, around and through the Commodores defense, outscoring Vanderbilt 30-12 to end the half and take a 43-27 lead to the locker room.
Khadim Sy, the Rebels big man inside led all scorers with 12 first-half points as he was too tall and long for the Commodores to handle through the first twenty minutes. His inside counterpart, Breein Tyree finished the half with 11 points as the only other Rebel in double figures in the half.
Scottie Pippen Jr. led the Commodores with 11 points, while Saben Lee and Jordan Wright each tossed home five points in the period.
Along with struggling to defend the Rebels inside presence, the Commodores shooting was dismal, hitting just 10 of 31, for 32% from the floor in the first half. It was the three-point shooting through the first half that pulled the Commodores through their first run to take the lead as they knocked down 5-9 from beyond the arc, good for 56% but managed just 50%, 2-4 from the free-throw line in the half.
The Rebels were much better from the outside in the half, hitting 17 of 31 shots, good form 55%, but were only 3 of 9 from behind the arc and 6-7 at the free-throw line.
For the third game in a row, Dylan Disu found himself in early foul trouble and sat a large portion of the first half, playing just eight minutes.
The second half was all Rebels as Vanderbilt would never threaten through the final twenty-minutes as Ole Miss outscored the Commodores 43-33 in the half.
Deontae Shuler led all scorers and five Rebels in double figures with 18 points. He was followed by fellow guards KJ Buffen (17), Blake Hinson (13), Sy (12) nd Tyree (11) for the Rebels.
Ejike Obinna led Vanderbilt with 13 and Pippen 11, all of which came in the first half as he was held scoreless in the final frame.
Lee, the Commodores leading scorer entering the game finished with just 10 points, five coming in each half while Wright and Disu each added seven and Maxwell Evans five points for Vanderbilt, now 9-20 on the season and 1-15 in SEC play.
The Commodores travel to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday to face Alabama in a 7:30 pm contest at Coleman Coliseum before closing the regular season schedule a week from today at home against South Carlina.
Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and on Facebook at VanderbiltCommodoresSI
