Field Level Media
Mar 6, 2021
Ole Miss held Vanderbilt to a season low in points, thrashing the Commodores 56-46 in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday night.
Jarkel Joiner (15 points) and Romello White (11) led Ole Miss (15-10, 10-8 Southeastern Conference) in scoring on the Rebels' Senior Night.
Jordan Wright (11) and Issac McBride (16) led Vanderbilt (8-15, 3-13).
The Rebels shut down Vandy star Scotty Pippen Jr., who scored seven points and had six turnovers. Pippen Jr. scored 36 in Vanderbilt's road win at Cincinnati on Thursday.
They also shut down the Commodores' 3-point shooting as Vandy shot 27.3 percent (6 of 22) from distance.
The Commodores did not pull an offensive rebound until 10:40 remained in the game.
Ole Miss' pressure defense took Vanderbilt out of the game early in the second half. Vandy's Wright hit a lay-up 22 seconds into the second half, but the Commodores didn't score again until 10:06 left in the game.
In between, Vandy turned it over eight times. McBride's 3-pointer broke the scoreless spell but at that point the Rebels led 49-27.
Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss' leading scorer, went to the bench with his third foul with 17:51 remaining, and eventually fouled out with 3:08 left. He had just five points in 16 minutes.
But the Rebels kept their defensive energy without him, with steals by Joiner and Luis Rodriguez leading to fast-break dunks from Rodriguez and Matt Murrell that provided a 38-24 lead early in the second half.
Vanderbilt led 4-3 early, then Shuler got his second foul and the lead became 10-3 after Pippen's 3 with 15:50 left in the half. The Rebels' zone defense then picked it up a notch without Shuler, and Ole Miss trailed just 16-14 when he returned with 8:46 left.
Then it was Vandy's turn to play without its star for a long spell due to a second foul assessed to Pippen, who picked up a charge moments later. Pippen went out with seven points. Coach Jerry Stackhouse left Pippen on the bench for the rest of the half, and it didn't go well. Joiner's 3 from the left side just beat the halftime buzzer and gave the Rebels a 34-22 lead at the break.
Ole Miss shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half and held Vandy to 2-of-9 from distance.
--Field Level Media