NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Saben Lee scored a career-high 25 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 90-76 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday night.
Aaron Nesmith added 16 points for the Commodores (6-2), while Clevon Brown scored 14 points and had a season-high eight rebounds. Maxwell Evans rounded out the balanced Vanderbilt attack with 13 points and seven boards.
Antwain Johnson led Buffalo (5-3) with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting and had seven rebounds. Davonta Jordan added 15 points and Josh Mballa chipped in 11.
Nesmith, who entered the game as the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer at 23.7 points per game, was held scoreless until 5:15 to go in the first half when he hit two free throws. He has scored in double figures in all eight games this season.
Buffalo, which has never defeated a Southeastern Conference team, started the game on a 10-1 run. Vanderbilt answered with a 16-5 run to take its first lead of the game at 17-15.
The Commodores went on to close the first half on a 21-4 run for a 47-34 advantage.
Vanderbilt posted a season-high 26 free-throw attempts, converting on 22 of them for 84.6%. Vanderbilt entered the contest with the second worst free-throw percentage in the SEC at 62.6%.
The Commodores, more of an outside shooting team, outscored the Bulls 56-44 in the paint.
It took Isaiah Rice, a walk-on, to keep Vanderbilt’s 3-point streak alive. Rice hit the shot with 5:34 to go in the first half. The Commodores have hit a 3 in 1,072 straight games.
BIG PICTURE:
Vanderbilt: The Commodores rebounded from a 67-58 loss at home against Tulsa on Saturday night. It was their lowest scoring game of the season.
Buffalo: The Bulls had their three-game win streak snapped.
UP NEXT
Buffalo travels to DePaul on Sunday.
