NASHVILLE — The Vanderbilt Commodores are not dwelling over their mistakes this season. Not when they still have games left to play.
A.J. Ogilvy scored a career-high 28 points and Vanderbilt had its best scoring night this season in routing South Carolina 96-83 Saturday night, keeping the Commodores’ very faint NCAA tournament dreams alive.
“I told them that this was a fork in the road,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said of rebounding from a loss to last-place Georgia. “A lot of teams and individuals would be ready for the season to end with us not being in play for the tournament other than our conference tournament. I think they responded extremely well.”
The Gamecocks (20-7, 9-5 SEC) came in sitting alone atop the SEC East, having won four of their last five. Now they are tied with Florida and Tennessee, who play Sunday, in the loss column in league play after a game in which they scored the opening basket, and that was their only lead of the night as they trailed by as much as 25.
“If we were able to win tonight, they’re would have been no worries,” South Carolina guard Devan Downey said. “We’ll be watching the game tomorrow.”
Vanderbilt (17-11, 6-8) snapped a two-game skid, coming off its worst shooting performance of the season in a loss at Georgia. The Commodores made up for that on a night where students are out on spring break by hitting 11 of their first 13 against South Carolina.
Gamecocks coach Darrin Horn complemented Vanderbilt.
“They were incredible. They came out big offensively and defensively. We couldn’t get any stops. They pressured well. They played extremely well,” Horn said.
Jermaine Beal also had a career-high with 27 points for Vanderbilt. Jeffery Taylor added 17 and Brad Tinsley 16
“We don’t have anything to lose right now,” Beal said. “We know our standing right now in the conference. But our season’s far from over, and our coaching staff knows that and our team knows that. We’re trying to get better and have fun and seize every opportunity we have.”
Downey led South Carolina with 24 points. Zam Fredrick added 21, Brandis Raley-Ross 15 and Mike Holmes 12.
Vanderbilt led 47-27 at halftime, and it was too deep a hole for South Carolina to rally back. The Gamecocks didn’t get closer than 14 in the second half until the final seconds.
In the teams’ previous game, three Commodores fouled out. This time, they stayed aggressive in going to the basket and made most of the trips to the line, outshooting South Carolina 26-of-35 compared to 6-of-9.
“We gave away too many free shots tonight and allowed Vandy to get into an offensive flow,” Fredrick said. “They made good plays and were able to get comfortable tonight.”
Downey scored on a fast-break layup within the opening minute. Taylor answered with a reverse layup, Ogilvy scored, Beal hit two free throws on a dead ball technical to Holmes and Tinsley sunk a 3-pointer from the corner for a 9-2 lead.
The Commodores took turns scoring. Taylor scored six of the first 13 points for Vandy, then Ogilvy took over as he hit his first five shots including a dunk after faking a 3-pointer before driving to the basket and his baseline drive pushed the lead to 19-8 with 13:31 to go. Then Ogilvy, who fouled out of Vandy’s loss at South Carolina on Jan. 28, added a 3-pointer.
Another technical, also on the Gamecocks, allowed Vandy to sink four straight free throws in pushing out the lead. Then Beal hit consecutive 3s for a 20-point margin at 37-17 with 7:36 remaining.
South Carolina couldn’t even get off a decent final shot at the end of the first half. Downey dribbled down the clock for a final shot when he found himself under pressure, so he passed off to Fredrick. But his shot just before the buzzer was left and never came close to the basket.
A sequence in the second half summed up Vandy’s night. Ogilvy got the ball under the basket, hesitated long enough for Dominique Archie to close in on him to draw the foul, then went up and scored. He then converted the three-point play at the line for a 64-41 margin.
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Comments » 21
teedub writes:
no kidding. bad losses to auburn and ole miss are really glaring!
username writes:
Yet, Tennessee is still in a position to take care of their business. If they win the final 3, they win the East. I'll take it.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Glad to see Candy is good for something this year! How we show up tomorrow against UF will tell us all we need to know about whether the Vols have put it together well enough to deserve any luck they get from the NCAA Selection Committee. I confess MY confidence is low, based on WAY too many "el-foldo" jobs this season, but hope springs eternal. GO VOLS!!! SKIN THE GATORS!!!
dwa7#337691 writes:
sad prediction....
blowout
FLA 83
UT 73
in a real sad game for the VOLS.....
fpcoach writes:
don't look now, but that terrible Auburn team has 19 wins and is in 2nd place in the west. Go Vols
richvol writes:
If Olgilvy can score 28 on South Carolina then Chism should be able to score 30. Olgilvy is not nearly the player Chism is so if Wayne decides that this game is one that he wants to show up for we could win in Columbus.
As mentioned earlier,my faith in this UT squad is thin, based on past no-shows,but I will be optimistic anyway.
lomas98 writes:
You could say that about all 4 teams from the east. Yes, TN has had some untimely losses. KY also lost at Ole Miss and at Vandy. SC lost to Vandy and Miss St., FL lost to GA. That Auburn team that beat us is playing for a bye in the SECT. A win today for the vols would be HUGE.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
True, but the guards also have to decide to throw the ball to him when he is open inside. They haven't all been on that same page at the same time all year. Vandy also has more proven scorers from outside than we do, so SC knew they couldn't gang up on Ogilvy. We shot the lights out against UF from outside last time and it will take much the same kind of performance today for us to win.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Yeah, the "who-beat-who-that-beat-who" could drive you crazy this year. Every game is a fresh opportunity, and has NO relation to whatever happened elsewhere or previously.
halloffamebowler writes:
I hope they can keep it that close in Gainsville.The opportunity is there.Will we take advantage?Stay tuned.Results at 11.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Wow, bummer, dude! However, that's about how it looks to me. I too hope they prove us wrong.
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
Ten points isn't a blowout in basketball.
VolJunkie writes:
richvol, good point, Wayne just has to believe he is a post player rather than a shooting guard.
VolJunkie writes:
Crazy year in the SEC, who would have thought at this point we could win out and take the East. Sure could use a first-round bye in the SEC tourney.
VolJunkie writes:
Marc, good analysis and against any other team I would agree. But there is something about CBP and FL that throws the analysis out the window. How many of the past 8 matchups should UF have won on paper? Most of them, and I think UT has enough tough road games under their belt that being at UF will not fluster them. Of course this could just be the optimist in me when it comes to most things orange!
Go Vols!
PennVol writes:
Today we'll see if Florida or UT wants it more. No excuses for not being ready for this game, especially with Ky and SC losing yesterday.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
All that counts is the W or the L; one, 10, or a 100 points, it's W or L, and we NEED the W!
givehim6 writes:
Wow dude, this is basketball not football. How about a bit of optimism, this team may be cold at times but thay can be hot also. Vandy's shown us how to down USC! GO VOLS!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
I'm about to change my predict from no Sweet 16 teams to no round of 32 teams.
givehim6 writes:
Oh ye of little faith!
Diggs writes:
Jimmy the Greek's job is safe.
Diggs
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