Bucknell University
0-2
Vanderbilt (Legends Classic)
2-1
Second-Half Flurry Lifts No. 18 Vanderbilt to 80-68 Win over Bucknell
11/15/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A second-half 3-point shooting flurry helped 18th-ranked Vanderbilt break open a one-point game at the half, and the Commodores pulled away for an 80-68 victory over Bucknell Tuesday night at Memorial Gymnasium in a TicketCity Legends Classic regional round contest. Joe Willman led the Bison with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting, and they will now look to bounce back from road losses to Minnesota and Vanderbilt at home on Saturday night against Saint Francis (Pa.).
Mike Muscala added 10 points and seven rebounds, Brian Fitzpatrick scored a career-high 10 points off the bench, and freshman Joshea Singleton logged 12 points in his first extended action. Bucknell shot 47.1 percent from the field, but Vanderbilt's big guards limited the Bison to only four 3-pointers all night, two of them coming from Singleton and one from freshman Steven Kaspar in the final minutes of the game.
Vanderbilt started the game just 1-for-13 from 3-point range and went 2-for-15 in the first half, but then the Commodores went 8-for-15 from the arc in a 53-point second half.
Jeffrey Taylor led Vandy with 14 points, while Lance Goulbourne, Brad Tinsley and Kedren Johnson followed with 12 apiece. The Commodores, who were ranked seventh in the nation before losing to Cleveland State on Sunday, shot 57.6 percent in the second half.
Leading by just a point in the opening moments of the second half, Vanderbilt pieced together its first sustained run of the night, scoring six straight points to open up a 35-28 lead. Lance Goulbourne's offensive rebound and dunk gave the Commodores their largest lead to that juncture at five points, and then Taylor broke free for a layup to make it a seven-point game.
Back-to-back layups by Muscala and Ayers stemmed the tide, but soon after the Commodores got their once-frigid outside shooting going. Propelled by 3-pointers from Tinsley, Taylor and Rod Odom, Vanderbilt went on a 15-4 run to pull ahead 50-36. Those three treys, coming in a span of less than four minutes, were more than they made in the entire first half.
Another Odom triple and then back-to-back treys by Johnson gave Vanderbilt six 3-pointers in a span of just 5:23. The last of those Johnson shots gave the Commodores a commanding 58-40 lead with 10:16 to play.
Seven straight Willman points sparked a 9-2 run to bring Bucknell back within 60-49, but Johnson's third 3-pointer of the half led to a 7-0 run, and Vandy closed it out from there.
There were 10 lead changes and three ties in a tightly contested first half. Vanderbilt scored on its first two possessions of the game, and that 4-0 lead was the biggest spread for either side in the entire half.
Bryan Cohen's 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 run to put the Bison in front, and it was back and forth from there. With Cohen on the bench with two fouls, Bucknell received a big lift from freshman Singleton. The rookie guard drove to the rim three times, twice getting himself to the free-throw line. Later in the half, another first-year man, Kaspar, scored his first career points on a drive through traffic, giving the Bison a 22-21 lead.
It went to 24-21 on Willman's pull-up jumper in the lane, but Vandy answered with a 6-0 run to go up 27-24. Bucknell pulled within one on Muscala's short jump hook, and then the Bison made a good defensive stand to keep it a 27-26 margin at the half.
Bucknell turned the ball over only eight times in the contest, but Vandy had only five. The Commodores, who were playing without injured starters Festus Ezeli and John Jenkins, finished with a 39-32 rebounding edge. In addition to shooting 47.1 percent from the floor, the Bison went 4-for-10 from 3-point range and 16-for-20 from the foul line.
Willman's 17 points were one shy of his career high, set last season against Navy. Bryson Johnson, guarded for much of the night by the 6-7 Preseason All-SEC forward Taylor, was held without a 3-point field goal for only the fourth time in the last two seasons and for just the 12th time in his career.
The loss snapped Bucknell's two-game winning streak against SEC opponents, including the 2006 NCAA Tournament win over Arkansas and a 1995 victory over Alabama.
Bucknell will now prepare for its home opener, coming up on Saturday night against Saint Francis (Pa.) at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
