Field Level Media
Mar 20, 2022
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 32 points to lead host Vanderbilt to a 70-68 win over Dayton in a second-round game of the National Invitation Tournament Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt's Liam Robbins made two crucial plays at each end of the floor in the closing moments of overtime.
The No. 4-seed Commodores (19-16) advanced to the NIT quarterfinals for the first time since 2015. They will travel to Cincinnati to take on No. 2-seed Xavier either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Robbins, who finished with four points and five rebounds, picked up back-to-back offensive rebounds. That led to his put-back shot near the rim with 39 seconds left.
The Commodores had a chance to put the game out of reach after Pippen stole a pass from Kobe Elvis, but Rodney Chatman missed a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left.
Robbins made certain his bucket would end up as the decisive points after he blocked Elvis on his way to the basket with less than a second remaining.
Vanderbilt finished with 11 offensive rebounds, which offset Dayton's dominance inside. The Flyers outscored the Commodores 42-24 in the paint.
Dayton (24-11), the NIT's top overall seed, played on the road due to its home arena being unavailable due to the Ohio state high school basketball championships.
Pippen, who also had seven assists, shot 11 of 13 from the free throw line.
Elvis finished with 20 points and five assists to lead the Flyers. DaRon Holmes II collected 17 points and eight rebounds, and Toumani Camara had 11 and six, respectively.
Quentin Millora-Brown's layup with 25 seconds left tied the game at 63-63 in regulation.
Vanderbilt had a chance to win it in the closing seconds when Jordan Wright stole the ball and drove to the basket. But Holmes met him near the rim and blocked his would-be game-winning shot to send the contest to overtime.
--Field Level Media