Nashville, Tenn. ? The Vanderbilt Commodores know they can shoot well. In Wednesday night’s 94-73 victory, they showed No. 10 Alabama just how good they can be.
Shan Foster scored 27 points in the Commodores’ best shooting game this season.
They hit a season-high 15 three-pointers in 28 attempts and shot 58.3 percent overall in pulling off their second home upset of a ranked team in eight days.
They beat then-No. 16 Tennessee, 82-81, on Jan. 10.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “Everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket.”
The Commodores came up one short of matching the 16 three-pointers against Arkansas in 1995 on this floor, and five players hit at least one three. Guard Derrick Byars, who had 15 points and hit three threes himself, said it was contagious.
“I looked at the scoreboard at halftime, and we were 9-of-15 from three in the first half, or something like that. That’s what we’re capable of. We’re a great shooting team,” he said.
Vandy (12-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) never let Alabama (14-3, 1-2) get close after the opening minutes in handing the Tide a ninth straight loss in Nashville. Alabama hasn’t won in Memorial Gym since 1990 under coach Wimp Sanderson.
“They obviously don’t like playing here, I guess,” Stallings said of Alabama. “Sometimes that just sort of becomes a thing. You don’t want to go certain places. I say that, I don’t know that they don’t like playing here, I’m guessing they don’t.
Alabama’s other conference loss this season was 88-61 at Arkansas.
Tide coach Mark Gottfried could only compliment Vanderbilt.
“We tried all sorts of different things tonight, but we just didn’t have any answers. They made a lot of tough, contested shots tonight,” he said.
No. 2 Wisconsin 69, Purdue 64
Madison, Wis. – Michael Flowers scored 15 points to lead Wisconsin to its 14th consecutive victory. The Badgers (18-1, 4-0 Big Ten), who are enjoying the highest ranking in school history, led by 10 points midway through the second half. Gordon Watt had 18 points for Purdue, which hasn’t won on the road in nearly three years.
No. 7 Ohio State 73, Northwestern 41
Columbus, Ohio – Mike Conley Jr. scored a career-high 17 points, and Jamar Butler added 16 as Ohio State beat Northwestern for a 14th straight time. Greg Oden had five points, six rebounds and five blocked shots for the Buckeyes (15-3, 3-1 Big Ten).
Craig Moore had 11 points for the Wildcats (10-8, 0-5). They have not won in Columbus since Feb. 24, 1977 – a string of 24 consecutive losses on the Buckeyes’ home court.
No. 16 LSU 62, Mississippi 55
Baton Rouge, La. – Tasmin Mitchell and Terry Martin combined for 22 second-half points to lead LSU. Mitchell scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, while Martin had eight of his 15 after the break for the Tigers (13-4, 2-1 Southeastern Conference). Clarence Sanders paced the Rebels (12-6, 1-3) with 12 points.
No. 18 Butler 67, Youngstown State 39
Indinapolis – Pete Campbell scored a season-high 17 points for Butler. The Bulldogs (16-2, 4-1 Horizon League) were 14-of-24 from three-point range and made seven straight in a four-minute stretch that broke the game open midway through the first half. The Bulldogs, who won their 18th straight at home, were 10-of-13 on threes in taking a 42-18 halftime lead. They widened it to as many as 33 points with under 2 minutes left in the game.
Villanova 102, No. 20 Notre Dame 87
Villanova, Pa. – Freshman Scottie Reynolds scored 27 points, Curtis Sumpter had 21, and Dante Cunningham added 19 to lead Villanova. Mike Nardi scored 18 points and the Wildcats (12-5, 2-3 Big East) hit 10 three-pointers.
Auburn 83, No. 22 Tennessee 80
Auburn, Ala. – Quan Prowell made four free throws in the final 22 seconds, and Auburn rallied from a 14-point deficit over the final 10 minutes to hand the Volunteers their third consecutive loss. The Tigers (12-7, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) scored 18 straight points to overcome the big deficit and then iced the game at the free-throw line in the final minutes. They had lost 15 games in a row against ranked opponents, a streak that went back nearly three years.
Florida State 82, No. 23 Virginia Tech 73
Tallahassee, Fla. – Al Thornton scored all of his 27 points in the second half, and Florida State snapped a three-game losing streak by handing the Hokies their first Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season. Toney Douglas added 22 points for Florida State (13-5, 1-3), which nearly blew an 18-point second-half lead before Thornton took control.
