Nesmith's 34 Powers Commodores To 88-73 Win Over UNC-Wilmington

Nashville, Tn.- The night belonged to Aaron Nesmith as the sophomore guard tied his career-high in points (34) and three-point baskets in a game (7) as the Commodores lead for 36:45 in route to an 88-73 win over the visitors from UNC-Wilmington.

Playing without both Clevon Brown and Ejike Obinna, the Commodores went to a smaller lineup as Jordan Wright, the 6'5" freshman from Baton Rouge made his first career start in a Vanderbilt uniform. Fellow freshman Braelee Albert saw his first-ever game action and knocked down a big three-point shot early in the first half.

After missing multiple games with a knee injury, Otan Jankovic returned to give the Commodores some inside help, he thrilled the crowd with a fast break dunk shortly after the Albert three.

The first half was controlled by the Commodores, who after an opening basket by Marten Linssen, Nesmith connected from the left corner for three that started an 8-0 run and a 2:59 second scoring drought by the Seahawks to forge an 11-5 advantage just 4 minutes into the game.

Vanderbilt would build their first-half advantage to 42-32 at the intermission as Nesmith powered them with 20 points in the half. Saben Lee was the next closest scorer in the frame, managing just 5 points, but the got contributions from eight players.

For Wilmington, Kai Toews led the Seahawks with 9 in the first half as seven players scored for the visitors.

Good shooting and defense were keys in the first half as Vanderbilt connected on 14 of 27 shots, good for 51.9% from the floor while they were solid from the free-throw stripe, connecting on 7 of 9 for 77.8%.

The Seahawks were held to just 10 of 21 shooting (47.6%) in the half, as the Vanderbilt defense made things tough on the visitors.

The second half was more Commodores and Nesmith as they opened the half by outscoring UNC 16-8 in the first eight minutes of the half. Nesmith added 6 points during the stretch including a breakaway dunk.

The Seahawks made a run late in the half, using an 11-0 stretch where the Commodores went almost three minutes without a made field goal to crawl to within 10 points, but Vanderbilt closed the game with a 9-2 advantage to win their seventh game of the year.

For the game, the Commodores were 27 of 56 from the floor, good for 48.2percent compared to the Seahawks who finished the game 25 of 51 for 49 percent.

Vanderbilt knocked down 11 of 25 three-point baskets and outrebounded the visitors 32-27 despite the absence of Brown and Obinna.

Head coach Jerry Stackhouse was also able to go deep into his bench, using ten players as eight players scored on the night.

Lee finished the contest with 14, the only other Commodore in double figures as Scottie Pippen Jr. and Maxwell Evans each finished the game with 9 while Dylan DIsu added 8 as the Commodores improve to 7-4 on the season as they head to the Christmas break.

They return to action in fourteen days when they travel to Auburn to open play against teh Tigers on Jan. 4th.