RJ Melendez scores 19 as No. 14 Mississippi State beats Vandy 76-64 for 8th straight win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — RJ Melendez scored 19 points and No. 14 Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt 76-64 on Tuesday night for its eighth straight victory.

The Bulldogs (14-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) came in with their highest ranking yet under coach Chris Jans. They leave having won six of eight in this series.

Cameron Matthews added 16 points and Claudell Harris Jr. had 13 for Mississippi State.

Vanderbilt (13-2, 1-1) was trying to start 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2016-17. Mississippi State snapped the Commodores’ seven-game win streak under first-year coach Mark Byington.

AJ Hoggard scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half trying to rally Vandy. Grant Huffman added 14 and Tyler Nickel had 10.

Takeaways

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs know how to get inside, dominating with a 42-30 scoring difference in the paint. They also hit their first 12 free throws, finishing 16 of 19 at the line.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores were ice cold for too much of the game. They missed 11 of their final 12 shots to end the first half and made one of their first 11 to start the second. That helped the Bulldogs lead 39-28 at halftime and by as much as 56-34 within the first six minutes of the second.

Key moment

Hoggard’s layup pulled Vanderbilt to 65-60 with 4:19 left, but then the Commodores had another scoring drought. Harris hit a 3-pointer and Matthews dunked with 2:04 left to seal the win.

Key stat

Jason Edwards, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer at 18.3 points per game, went scoreless in 11 minutes. He missed all eight shots, including five inside the arc.

Up next

Mississippi State hosts No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday night.

Vanderbilt goes to Missouri on Saturday before returning for two home games.

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