Vanderbilt solidifies postseason credentials
ATLANTA (AP) — Matt Freije isn’t ready to celebrate a spot in the NCAA tournament just yet.
Vanderbilt solidified its postseason credentials, reaching 20 wins for the first time since 1998 with a 70-50 victory over Mississippi in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday night.
“Hopefully, we’ve done enough,” Freije said. “But you can’t prove yourself enough.”
The Commodores (20-8) could eliminate any doubt with a victory in Friday’s quarterfinals. They’ll meet No. 4 Mississippi State, the regular-season champion.
“We need to try to finish this deal,” Freije said.
Vanderbilt hasn’t been to the NCAAs in seven years, but its resume is solid. The Commodores were .500 in one of the country’s toughest conferences and 30th in the RPI rankings at the end of the regular season.
Then again, Vanderbilt was 8-8 in the league and won its first SEC tournament game in 2000 — only to get left at home when the NCAA bids went out.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” Freije said. “I think we’ve proven ourselves, but it depends on what those guys behind the doors think.”
Dawid Przybyszewski scored 17 points — seven coming during a nine-point spurt in the first half that put Vanderbilt in control against an Ole Miss team finishing up its second straight losing season.
The plodding Rebels (13-15) fell behind 42-27 at halftime and never made a serious run over the final 20 minutes. They lost to Vanderbilt for the second time this season, following a 77-65 defeat at home.
Midway through the first half, Ole Miss forward Aaron Harper took a nasty shot to the face during a loose-ball scrum at center court. He needed 17 stitches to stop the bleeding, forcing him out for the rest of the half.
“I was in so much pain,” Harper said. “At halftime, they told me we were down 10 points. I think we were really 15 down. I guess they didn’t want to tell me.”
Play was halted for several minutes while blood was wiped off the court. When the game resumed, Vanderbilt quickly pushed a 17-16 lead out of reach.
The Commodores scored nine straight points — the last seven by Przybyszewski. The native of Poland worked inside for a couple of layups, then stepped outside to sink a 3-pointer.
Ole Miss never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
The only whiff of a comeback came when the Rebels had the ball and a chance to close the margin into single digits with about seven minutes remaining. After they failed to convert, Przybyszewski and Russell Lakey hit back-to-back 3s to give Vanderbilt a 64-48 lead.
Ole Miss managed only two points the rest of the way — a couple of meaningless free throws by Justin Reed.
Harper returned in the second half, wearing a different jersey — 42 instead of 1 — because of blood stains on his regular uniform. But he wasn’t much of a factor, scoring only 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting — just 1-of-7 outside the arc.
Harper scored 29 points against Vanderbilt during the regular season.
“It was tough going down,” Harper said. “I felt like I let my team down. I couldn’t help them like I wanted to.”
Freije, an All-SEC selection, added 14 points for Vanderbilt, which shot an efficient 24-of-47 (51 percent) from the field and committed only 11 turnovers. The Commodores sank 9-of-18 from 3-point range, compared with 4-of-24 for Ole Miss.
Lakey chipped in with 11 points, hitting all four of his shots from the field. He also had eight assists, six rebounds, five steals and only one turnover.
“It’s hard for me to put into words what he means to our team,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “Nobody on our team has his sense of urgency on a daily basis.”
Said Lakey, “I’m just looking at every game as my last game. I’m trying to keep this team alive.”
Reed scored 15 points to lead the Rebels, who were doomed by a miserable 18-of-58 (31 percent) shooting effort. Of course, that was nothing new.
Ole Miss was the lowest-scoring team in the league, averaging just 63.7 points a game during the regular season.