Vanderbilt Commodores Lose, Allow Missouri Tigers to Sneak Away

The Vanderbilt Commodores men’s basketball team was poised to claim an SEC win only to see the Missouri Tigers pull away.

Vanderbilt Commodores guard Jason Edwards (1) gets by Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks forward Jalen Ware (24) during their game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the SEC, chances for road wins are precious. The Vanderbilt Commodores allowed one to slip away on Saturday when they lost to Missouri, 75-66.

The Commodores (13-3, 1-2) have now lost two straight games. While their 14-point loss to nationally ranked Mississippi State was somewhat expected, the matchup with the unranked Tigers (13-3, 2-1) represented what could be termed a more even matchup.

Vanderbilt had to rally in the second half and make it a game. Down nine points at halftime, the Tigers pushed the lead to 13 points, 47-34, after a tip-in by Mark Mitchell with 16:56 left.

From there, the Tigers remained the lead. But the Commodores did make one last run to try and overtake them.

The second half was marked by short Vandy runs, followed by Mizzou scoring a basket to cool things off. But, with 7:38 left, the Commodores cut the lead to four points, 61-57, on a jumper by Jason Edwards.

Two minutes later, after both teams missed chances to score, the Commodores cut the lead to one on Chris Manon’s 3-pointer, which was set up by a Mizzou turnover.

That turned out to be as close as Vandy would get. The Commodores had a chance to take the lead, but A.J. Hoggard committed a turnover, which was followed by a dunk by the Tigers’ Tamar Bates.

Mizzou slowly crept away, in part because the Commodores were unable to score a field goal in the final three minutes of the game and went 1-for-8 from the floor down the stretch. Vandy’s last shot came with 2:11 left, as Edwards made three free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt. That cut the Mizzou lead to 68-66.

From there, the Tigers scored the final seven points of the game.

Edwards returned from an injury to lead Vanderbilt with 20 points in 31 minutes. MJ Collins scored 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Manon had 10 points.

Devin McGlockton led the Commodores with 10 rebounds and Hoggard had six assists.

Mitchell led Mizzou with 19 points and added seven rebounds. Anthony Robinson II had 15 points and eight assists, while Caleb Grill added 13 points. Josh Gray didn’t score a single point, but he led the Tigers with 11 rebounds.

Vanderbilt and Missouri met in basketball for just the 18th time and the Commodores left without their first win in Columbia.

The Commodores are about to enter a brutal stretch after their Wednesday showdown with South Carolina in Nashville. Following the Gamecocks, the next five games are against Top 25 teams.