National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Vanderbilt 86, Western Michigan 61
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Where: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials: # Jeff Clark, # Tony Greene, # Anthony Jordan
Attendance: 10092

Behind a balanced scoring attack of five men in double figures, Vanderbilt spent most of the second half steadily pulling away from visiting Western Michigan in an 86-61 win on Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn.

Guards Wade Baldwin IV (15 points), Riley LaChance and Nolan Cressler (14), center Damian Jones (13) and forward Jeff Roberson (11) led the way for the Commodores, who shot 51.8 percent from the field and nailed 11 3-pointers.

Behind the play of forward Tucker Haymond (18 points) and guard Thomas Wilder (21), who gave VU (8-4) issues with their abilities to score at close range, the pesky Broncos stayed within striking distance for about half the night, trailing just 40-33 after center Seth Dugan's lay-up with 18:04 remaining.

But that's when Vanderbilt's skill and athleticism took over.

The Commodores slowly extended the lead through LaChance, who scored nine quick points midway through the second half on three drives and a 3, and then twice took 17-point leads when Baldwin fed forward Joe Toye for a pair of highlight-reel dunks.

Western Michigan (5-7) never got closer than 16 again.

A Baldwin 3, Vanderbilt's sixth of the half, gave it the first double-figure lead at 28-17 with 7:04 left in the half.

The visiting Broncos, thanks to seven Haymond points late in the half while Vanderbilt's long-distance shots were no longer falling, clawed back to cut the lead to 37-28 at half.

Jones, a junior, scored the 1,000th point of his career on a first-half field goal.

Roberson, who had 11 boards, also picked up a quiet double-double.
Top Game Performances
 
Western Michigan   Vanderbilt
Thomas Wilder 21 Scoring Wade Baldwin IV 15
Thomas Wilder 3 Assists Wade Baldwin IV 10
Josh Davis 6 Rebounds Jeff Roberson 10
Tucker Haymond 6 Free Throws Made Jeff Roberson 6
Tucker Haymond 1 Steals Wade Baldwin IV 3
N/A Blocks Damian Jones 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Western Michigan 61 37.0 2-18 19-24 8 32 0 2 14
Vanderbilt 86 51.8 11-30 17-23 22 29 3 7 9