NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vince Williams scored 14 points and VCU beat Vanderbilt 46-37 on Wednesday night.
Jayden Nunn added 11 points and Nick Kern eight for the Rams (2-1), who shot only 33% but held Vanderbilt (2-1) and SEC preseason player of the year Scottie Pippen Jr. to 23%, including 2 of 25 from 3-point range. Hason Ward tied a career high with five blocks.
Pippen, who had his fourth 30th-point game in his previous game, a win over Texas State, scored Vanderbilt’s first four points but didn’t score again until a pair of free throws early in the second half to get the Commodores within one.
Williams hit a 3-pointer and followed with a dunk but then sat for over nine minutes after his fourth foul. But the Rams continued to build on their lead, making it 44-28 with a 14-2 run in which Kern scored six points. The Commodores didn’t get closer than nine thereafter.
VCU led 23-22 at the half.
Jordan Wright scored 15 points, the only Commodore in double figures. Pippen was next with eight, going without a field goal in the second half. The Commodores averaged 85 points in their first two games.
Vanderbilt’s two 3-pointers were the fewest for the Commodores since they were held without a 3-pointer by Tennessee on Jan. 25, 2020 when the Commodores were blanked from the arc for the first time in 1,080 games. Vanderbilt also failed to reach 40 points for the first time since losing 76-38 to the Volunteers on March 1, 2014.
The teams combined for 43 turnovers.
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