Tyler Nickel, AK Okereke, and Devin McGlockton combined for 65 points to lead No. 19 Vanderbilt to an 82-69 victory Saturday over Texas A&M in Nashville, Tenn.
Nickel scored 25 points, while Okereke added 23. McGlockton posted 17 points and eight rebounds.
Nickel’s long-range shooting (five 3-pointers) and season-high scoring total from Okereke allowed the Commodores (21-4, 8-4 SEC) to win for the fifth time in six games.
Vanderbilt also got 11 points off the bench from Chandler Bing. The Commodores shot 56.5 percent in the second half and made 15 of 17 free throws in the final 8:20. Tyler Tanner, who leads Vanderbilt in scoring at 18.9 points per game, was held to four points. He had reached 20 or more points for three straight games.
Texas A&M (17-8, 7-5), which lost its fourth-straight game, got 20 points from Marcus Hill. No other Aggie scored in double figures. Zach Clemence finished with nine points, Ali Dibba added nine points and eight rebounds, and Rashaun Agee collected eight points and 11 rebounds.
Ahead by four at the half, Vanderbilt used a flurry of 3-pointers in the opening 4:26 of the second half to built a 50-39 advantage. Nickel dropped in three of the four 3-pointers during that span.
The Commodores extended their lead to 13 points with 13:04 to go on an Okereke jumper in the paint.
The Vanderbilt lead grew to 15 points in the closing two minutes following a corner 3 by Okereke. Okereke made eight of 10 free throws in the final 5:18 to keep the Aggies from coming back.
Vanderbilt trailed by five in the opening minutes but used a 10-0 run late in the opening half to grab a 25-19 lead. The Commodores missed 11 of their first 16 shot attempts before finding their range.
After the scoring run, the Commodores maintained a first-half advantage. Vanderbilt, behind 11 points each from Nickel and McGlockton, led 36-32 at the break.
–Field Level Media
