Texas A&M
15-10, 5-7SEC
Vanderbilt
10-14, 4-8SEC
Aggie Men Fall at Vandy, 63-56
Feb 16, 2013 | Men's Basketball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Rod Odom scored 19 points and Dai-Jon Parker added a career-high 17 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 63-56 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday night.
Parker made a personal-best five 3-pointers as the Commodores (10-14, 4-8 Southeastern Conference) won the first meeting between the schools since 1955.
Vanderbilt used a 20-6 run spanning the first and second halves to pull away from the Aggies (15-10, 5-7). Parker followed his final 3-pointer with a nifty reverse layup for the largest lead of the game, 46-33, with 8:37 left.
Texas A&M stormed back and closed the gap to 56-51 with 1:29 remaining. But Odom drained his career-high tying fourth 3-pointer to halt the rally.
Josh Henderson chipped in 11 for the Commodores, who had lost five of six.
Elston Turner, coming off a 37-point performance against Mississippi on Wednesday, scored 14 points and Ray Turner added 10 for Texas A&M.
Texas A&M Men's Basketball
Postgame Notes
Vanderbilt 63, Texas A&M 56
Feb. 16, 2013 - Memorial Gym
TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M saw its record fall to 15-10 on the season with a 5-7 mark in SEC games.
- Vanderbilt, meanwhile, improved 10-14 on the year with a 4-8 league record.
- The all-time series between the schools now stands at 2-0 in favor of Vanderbilt.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the contest, but it was the Commodores who closed the first half on a 6-0 run to carry a 25-21 lead into the intermission.
- During the second half, Vanderbilt made seven 3-pointers to foil any A&M comeback attempt.
- For the game, Texas A&M shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) while Vandy shot 45.8 percent (22-of-48).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Senior guard Elston Turner led the Aggies with 14 points in the contest, going 7-for-19 from the floor ... It marked the 46th time in 57 career games at Texas A&M that Turner has reached double-digits in points.
- Senior forward Ray Turner finished with 10 points and five rebounds, while RS sophomore forward Kourtney Roberson ended play with eight points and eight rebounds.
- Vanderbilt was led by Rod Odom, who notched a game-high 19 points.
UP NEXT
- The Aggies hit the road next week to face Auburn on Wednesday ... The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.
- Vanderbilt, meanwhile, will travel to Lexington to face Kentucky at Rupp Arena.
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Kennedy
Opening Comments:
"I have to give Vandy a lot of credit. I thought the seven three-pointers in the second half at the end of the shot clock were backbreakers. They shot the ball extremely well and in the second half I thought that was the difference in the game."
On Vanderbilt's Dai-Jon Parker:
"We had a hard time defending dribble penetration and I thought they did a good job of finding him (Parker). I also thought (Rod) Odom was a tough matchup for us and he shot the ball well. Dai-Jon Parker is a tough kid and he made some shots tonight that were critical."
On how Vanderbilt defended Elston Turner:
"Everybody loads up their defense to stop Elston and I thought Elston had a pretty good game even though he was 7-of-19. He got some looks, but they did a good job of making him work hard before he got the open shots. They (Vanderbilt) are a good defensive team and we've struggled against good defensive teams."
Texas A&M guard Elston Turner
On the inconsistency of the team:
"We're still confident that we can make a run, but the time is ticking and we're starting to run out of time. Defensively, we didn't play great, but we played well enough to win. They hit a lot of crucial shots. The bottom line is they hit shots and we didn't. We have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for a quick turnaround game Wednesday."
On what Vanderbilt did defensively against him:
"I couldn't really catch it in my sweet spots. I had to go out towards half court because they were denying me and switching on a lot of the ball screens. They didn't really extend their defense; they kept it packed in tight. They made me pass the ball. I did have some open looks, but I just wasn't able to knock them down tonight."
