Chris Manon's late 3 puts Vanderbilt ahead to stay in 77-72 win over No. 24 Ole Miss

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Highlight: Commodores knock off No. 24 Ole Miss to end skid

Vanderbilt builds a 19-point lead and then holds on for an important 77-72 win over the visiting Rebels, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Feb 22, 2025, 06:06 pm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- — Chris Manon's 3-pointer with 4:53 left put Vanderbilt ahead to stay as the Commodores beat No. 24 Ole Miss 77-72 Saturday to snap a three-game skid.

The Commodores (18-9, 6-8 Southeastern Conference) led by as much as 19 and 41-33 at halftime before Ole Miss put Vanderbilt at risk of blowing another double-digit lead.

Manon finished with a season-high 16 points. Jason Edwards added 15, Tyler Nickel had 13 and Devin McGlockton 10.

First-year coach Mark Byington has Vanderbilt closer to an NCAA Tournament berth after being picked to finish last in the SEC. The Commodores have three wins over ranked opponents and came into Saturday 10th in the league standings.

Ole Miss (19-8, 8-6) lost its second straight.

Malik Dia, who started his career at Vanderbilt, scored a career-high 22 points for Ole Miss. Sean Pedulla added 21.

Takeaways

Ole Miss: The Rebels took too long to wake up and went too cold for too long. They finished the first half on a 16-5 run and opened the second outscoring Vanderbilt 18-5. They last led 64-62 after five straight points by Dia, the last a 3 with 7:36 left. Then they missed nine of 10 shots.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores improved to 13-2 at Memorial Gym where they haven't lost consecutive games this season.

Key moment

Vanderbilt took control with an 11-2 spurt started by a pair of free throws from Edwards. Then Manon stole the ball from Pedulla before hitting that go-ahead 3. Manon's emphatic dunk forced Ole Miss to take a timeout followed by a layup by Tyler Tanner.

Key stat

Vanderbilt sealed the win hitting its final eight free throws.

Up next

Ole Miss continues a two-game road swing at No. 1 Auburn on Wednesday with Vanderbilt playing its fifth straight ranked opponent at No. 7 Texas A&M.

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