Vanderbilt Commodores vs Alabama Crimson Tide Match Player Stats On Feb 23, 2019

Alabama sprinted out to a huge lead, and held on to beat Vanderbilt 68-61 at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday night.

It marked a program-record 15th straight loss for the Commodores (9-18, 0-14 Southeastern Conference), and snapped a three-game Alabama losing streak.

Alabama (16-11, 7-7) was led by guards Kira Lewis Jr. (19 points) and Dazon Ingram (13 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) plus forwards Donta Hall (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Riley Norris (nine points).

Forward Simi Shittu led the Commodores in scoring (16) and rebounding (11). Forward Yanni Wetzell added 10 points and eight boards off the bench, and guard Aaron Nesmith scored 14.

Alabama was in the process of making it a laugher when Lewis hit a 3 with 11:17 left, putting the Crimson Tide up 57-34.

But Vanderbilt ran off 15 straight points before Alabama guard Herbert Jones made a dunk from an Ingram assist with 5:12 left.

The teams largely traded scores from there as Vandy got no closer than the final margin the rest of the way.

The Crimson Tide jumped on Vanderbilt early. Vandy scored the game's first bucket, and it went downhill quickly from there.

Norris hit back-to-back 3s, the second coming with 9:29 left in the first half, putting the Crimson Tide up 25-6. The Commodores had nine turnovers to that point, and no one outside Shittu had scored.

Within the next two minutes, Lewis added back-to-back 3s to push the margin over 20 for the first time, at 31-9 before entering halftime up 35-20.

One reason for Alabama's first-half dominance was Hall, who blocked three first-half shots and took away any chance Vanderbilt had of establishing an inside presence.

Another was the 18 points the Crimson Tide got off Vandy's 12 first-half turnovers.

Norris rolled over on VU starting forward Clevon Brown's ankle with 8:11 left in the first half, and Brown limped off the floor after the play. He returned, but wasn't effective.

--Field Level Media