Liam Robbins collected 24 points and eight rebounds to fuel visiting Vanderbilt to a 75-64 victory over South Carolina on Tuesday in Columbia, S.C.
Robbins sank 8 of 14 shots from the floor — including all three from 3-point range — for the Commodores (14-12, 7-6 Southeastern Conference). The SEC Player of the Week is coming off a career-high 32-point, 10-rebound performance in Vanderbilt’s 88-80 victory at Florida on Saturday.
Ezra Manjon recorded 15 points and six assists to send the Commodores to their first four-game winning streak in conference play since February 2017. Manjon had a season-high 24 points in Vanderbilt’s 84-79 win over the Gamecocks on Jan. 3 in Nashville, Tenn.
Tyrin Lawrence contributed 11 points and seven rebounds and Myles Stute added 10 points for Vanderbilt, which secured its first season sweep of South Carolina since 2013.
The Commodores held a decisive edge in rebounds (48-34), including 19-10 on the offensive glass. The domination on the boards helped Vanderbilt overcome a 38.5 percent shooting performance from the floor, while the Gamecocks (9-17, 2-11) made just 36.2 percent of their attempts.
South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson scored 19 points and Chico Carter Jr. added 15. Hayden Brown added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Gamecocks, who have lost nine of their last 10 games.
Jacobi Wright drained a jumper to give South Carolina a 2-0 lead before Vanderbilt scored the game’s next 15 points. Robbins, Stute and Trey Thomas each made a 3-pointer to highlight that surge.
The Gamecocks pulled within 11 points at 25-14 with 5:44 remaining in the first half before the Commodores closed with a 13-4 run. Robbins capped that run with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Stute drained a pair of 3-pointers as Vanderbilt answered an 8-0 South Carolina run with one of its own early in the second half.
Johnson made a 3-pointer to cut the Commodores’ lead to 73-64 with 38 seconds to play, but Manjon sank a pair of free throws to end the threat.
–Field Level Media
