Vanderbilt Commodores

Memorial Magic Strikes Again For Vanderbilt Against Missouri

The Commodores had to fight an uphill battle for a full 45 minutes, but ended up celebrating another home court win against a ranked opponent.
Taylor Hodges|
Vanderbilt Commodores guard Chris Manon (30) blocks the shot of Missouri Tigers guard Mark Mitchell (25) during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium.
Vanderbilt Commodores guard Chris Manon (30) blocks the shot of Missouri Tigers guard Mark Mitchell (25) during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

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Vanderbilt Commodores

Harry Potter-like magic isn’t real, but some kind of magic is real and there’s a large supply of it at Memorial Gymnasium.

Headed into Saturday’s game against No. 14 Missouri, Vanderbilt had already upset three ranked teams on its home court and added a fourth after trailing by as many as seven points late in the second half to beat the Tigers 97-93 in overtime.

Vanderbilt (20-9, 8-8 SEC) had trailed Missouri (21-8, 10-6 SEC) for most of the game, but the Commodores were constantly able to find a way to close the gap. A large part of the Commodores’ deficit could be attributed to their poor first half shooting, including its best three-point shooter.

Tyler Nickel missed his first three-pointer of the game, but made up for in the final seconds of Saturday night’s game against No. 14 Missouri.

Following a trip to the free throw line for Missouri, the Commodores’ A.J. Hoggard received the inbound pass and traveled down the court and drove to the basket before passing to Nickel outside the arch and Nickel made his three-pointer of the second half to send the game into overtime.

Vanderbilt rode the Memorial magic in the overtime period, outscoring the Tigers 16-12 to secure the win.

Chris Manon led the Commodores with 23 points, and three others had 10 or more points including Hoggard (19), Jason Edwards (17) and Nickel (12).

Vanderbilt’s grueling, six-game gauntlet against ranked opponents is finally over, but the next two opponents are teams on the bubble of making the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores will host Arkansas (17-12, 6-10 SEC) at 9 p.m. Tuesday on SEC Network and then head to Georgia (17-11, 5-10 SEC) for an 11 a.m. Saturday game on ESPNU.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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