Friday, November 11
Nashville, Tenn.
7:00 PM
University of Oregon
64
at
78
Vanderbilt
Photo by: GoDucks.com
Oregon Falls to No. 7 Vanderbilt in Opener, 78-64
11/12/11 | Men's Basketball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - John Jenkins scored 24 points, Jeffery Taylor added 21 and seventh-ranked Vanderbilt opened the season with a 78-64 victory over Oregon on Friday night.
Brad Tinsley had 13 points for Vanderbilt.
The Commodores hadn't been ranked in the preseason since November 1993 when they were No. 23, and they haven't been ranked this high since 1965 when they were fifth. That might be why they opened a bit slowly and even trailed by as much as six early.
But the Commodores took control with an 18-0 run over the final 2:33 of the first half and the first few minutes of the second half.
Oregon fell to 0-4 when opening against a ranked opponent. But the Ducks didn't go down easily as Tony Woods had a team-high 12 points. Brett Kingma and E.J. Singler had 10 each.
Vanderbilt led by 20 with 13:36 to go, but Oregon came back with 14 straight points. The Ducks got as close as 62-57 on a jumper by Kingma with 5:09 left. Taylor answered by putting back his own miss with 4:41, then Jabari Brown had a turnover at midcourt. Johnathan Loyd missed both free throws, then Taylor hit a jumper to start a 12-0 run to seal the win.
The Ducks finished with 20 turnovers, which Vandy turned into 24 points.
This is the first time in his 13 seasons that coach Kevin Stallings has had all five starters back at Vanderbilt, but he'll be without center Festus Ezeli for up to eight weeks after the senior sprained his right knee late last month. Ezeli had been suspended for the first six games by the NCAA for accepting a meal and a hotel room from an alumnus during the summer.
The Commodores struggled early despite the sellout crowd. The Ducks hit eight of their first 10 shots and led by as much as 18-12 on Kingma's 3-pointer with 12:18 left. Jenkins, the Southeastern Conference's leading scorer last season, missed his first four shots before hitting his fifth 3 with 6:59 left to put Vandy up 22-20. He wound up 7 of 16 from 3-point range.
Oregon last led 29-26 when Garrett Sim hit the first of two free throw attempts with 3:17 remaining. The Ducks didn't score the rest of the half.
Freshman Kedren Johnson scored on a layup with 2:33 left to start the 16-0 run. Taylor hit a pair of free throws to put Vandy back up 30-29. Jenkins added another 3, and Henderson hit two free throws for a 35-29 lead at halftime.
Taylor picked up in the second half where Vandy left off with a bucket, and Jenkins hit a 3-pointer 57 seconds into the half for a 40-29 lead. Tinsley added a layup off the fast break as the Commodores forced Oregon into five turnovers within the first 3 minutes. Taylor's layup capped the 18-0 run with 18:02 remaining.
By the time Jenkins hit another 3 with 14:15 to go, Vandy led 53-35, and Henderson tipped in a missed free throw by Dai-Jan Parker for the Commodores' biggest lead at 55-35 with 13:36 remaining.
Brad Tinsley had 13 points for Vanderbilt.
The Commodores hadn't been ranked in the preseason since November 1993 when they were No. 23, and they haven't been ranked this high since 1965 when they were fifth. That might be why they opened a bit slowly and even trailed by as much as six early.
But the Commodores took control with an 18-0 run over the final 2:33 of the first half and the first few minutes of the second half.
Oregon fell to 0-4 when opening against a ranked opponent. But the Ducks didn't go down easily as Tony Woods had a team-high 12 points. Brett Kingma and E.J. Singler had 10 each.
Vanderbilt led by 20 with 13:36 to go, but Oregon came back with 14 straight points. The Ducks got as close as 62-57 on a jumper by Kingma with 5:09 left. Taylor answered by putting back his own miss with 4:41, then Jabari Brown had a turnover at midcourt. Johnathan Loyd missed both free throws, then Taylor hit a jumper to start a 12-0 run to seal the win.
The Ducks finished with 20 turnovers, which Vandy turned into 24 points.
This is the first time in his 13 seasons that coach Kevin Stallings has had all five starters back at Vanderbilt, but he'll be without center Festus Ezeli for up to eight weeks after the senior sprained his right knee late last month. Ezeli had been suspended for the first six games by the NCAA for accepting a meal and a hotel room from an alumnus during the summer.
The Commodores struggled early despite the sellout crowd. The Ducks hit eight of their first 10 shots and led by as much as 18-12 on Kingma's 3-pointer with 12:18 left. Jenkins, the Southeastern Conference's leading scorer last season, missed his first four shots before hitting his fifth 3 with 6:59 left to put Vandy up 22-20. He wound up 7 of 16 from 3-point range.
Oregon last led 29-26 when Garrett Sim hit the first of two free throw attempts with 3:17 remaining. The Ducks didn't score the rest of the half.
Freshman Kedren Johnson scored on a layup with 2:33 left to start the 16-0 run. Taylor hit a pair of free throws to put Vandy back up 30-29. Jenkins added another 3, and Henderson hit two free throws for a 35-29 lead at halftime.
Taylor picked up in the second half where Vandy left off with a bucket, and Jenkins hit a 3-pointer 57 seconds into the half for a 40-29 lead. Tinsley added a layup off the fast break as the Commodores forced Oregon into five turnovers within the first 3 minutes. Taylor's layup capped the 18-0 run with 18:02 remaining.
By the time Jenkins hit another 3 with 14:15 to go, Vandy led 53-35, and Henderson tipped in a missed free throw by Dai-Jan Parker for the Commodores' biggest lead at 55-35 with 13:36 remaining.
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