National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Vanderbilt 67, Auburn 59
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 22, 2014
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Officials: # Jim Burr, # Joe Lindsay, # Jeff Smith
Attendance: 6814

Vanderbilt 67, Auburn 59: Dai-Jon Parker hit five 3-pointers en route to a career-high 21 points as the visiting Commodores rallied to knock off the Tigers.

Damian Jones scored 14 points and Luke Kornet added 10 points off the bench for Vanderbilt (15-11, 7-7 SEC), which has won 10 straight in the series dating to the 2006-07 season. The Commodores began their rally with their top two scorers — Rod Odom and Kyle Fuller — on the bench in favor of walk-ons Nathan Watkins (seven points) and Carter Josephs (nine assists).

Chris Denson and KT Harrell scored 13 apiece for Auburn (12-13, 4-10), which shot 33.9 percent overall and was 4-for-24 from beyond the arc. Asauhn Dixon-Tatum and Allen Payne each tallied 11 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers.

Held scoreless for the first 29 minutes, Odom found his stroke during a pivotal stretch, putting the Commodores ahead 49-48 with his first basket of the game and hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch it to 58-50 with just over eight minutes left. The Tigers clawed back within 58-57 with a little over five minutes remaining, but Fuller converted a three-point play and knocked down a 3-pointer — his only six points of the night — to spark a 9-0 spurt.

The Tigers lead was as large as 16 in the first half after a 9-0 spurt, but Auburn went more than six minutes without a field goal as Vanderbilt closed the gap to 32-25 at halftime. Auburn re-established the double-digit margin early in the second half but Parker's outside shooting quickly brought the Commodores back as he hit three straight 3-pointers during a 12-0 burst that gave Vanderbilt its first lead at 40-38.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in all 891 games it has played since the inception of the 3-point shot in 1986, one of only three teams to do so. … The Commodores improved to 8-0 this season when making more 3-pointers than the opposition. … Denson and Harrell entered the game averaging a combined 39.6 points, the second-highest scoring duo in the nation.

Top Game Performances
 
Vanderbilt   Auburn
Dai-Jon Parker 21 Scoring Chris Denson 13
Carter Josephs 9 Assists Tahj Shamsid-Deen 5
James Siakam 9 Rebounds Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 9
Damian Jones 6 Free Throws Made Chris Denson 7
Kyle Fuller 2 Steals Chris Denson 2
James Siakam 2 Blocks Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Vanderbilt 67 44.2 11-26 10-17 18 33 2 7 11
Auburn 59 33.9 4-24 13-16 10 37 3 8 11