Nashville, TN – The Auburn Tigers traveled to Memorial Gymnasium and defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores on the road for the first time since the 1999-2000 season by a score of 65-54. Both teams struggled offensively with Auburn shooting 34.7 percent overall and the Commodores shooting 33.3 percent. Auburn forced Vanderbilt into 19 turnovers in a sloppy, slow paced contest.
The Tigers were paced by PG Jared Harper (5-11, 175) who scored 16 points and added eight assists with three steals. Harper controlled the game with only one turnover over 36 minutes played. Harper continued his excellent shooting this season, making 4-of-10 overall and 3-of-8 from distance, while slightly struggling from the free throw line, making only 5-of-8. All three of his three point makes came from NBA distance and off the dribble. Harper also setup all of Auburn’s outside shooting, assisting on every other made three-pointer. His lone two pointer came on a floater off a drive into the middle of the lane. Sophomore forward Chuma Okeke (6-8, 230) continued his recent dominant offensive play for Auburn, reaching the charity stripe numerous times after drawing fouls on post up play from the left block. He finished 8-of-10 from the free throw line. He also went 1-of-3 from long range, on a catch and shoot from Harper. Okeke also added six rebounds, three steals and a block. Two of his steals came on help defense when the ball was passed into post, and he also intercepted a pass on the perimeter.
Vanderbilt was led by Top 100 recruit, forward Andrew Nesmith (6-6, 213) who entered the game averaging 3.2 PPG. He finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds. He struggled overall shooting finishing 6-of-21 from the field, however he was 3-of-9 from three and was also a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. He scored his three pointers on catch and shoot opportunities and his makes inside included a drive to the rim and tip in. Top 25 recruit, freshman forward Simi Shittu struggled prior to fouling out, finishing with si6 points and two rebounds. He made both layup attempts, but could not get into the flow of the game after sitting with foul trouble early. Junior forward Yanni Wetzell (6-10, 240) had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He had one block and effected several other shots.
Auburn (17-8, 6-6) travels home to face Arkansas on Wednesday, while Vanderbilt (9-16, 0-12) makes the short trip to face No. 1 Tennessee on Tuesday.
This article was written by Lee Busby, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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