Tyler Tanner scored 17 points, Ace Glass poured in 16 and No. 24 Vanderbilt used several stretches of stingy defense to defeat Wake Forest 74-51 on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.
Ant Brown Jr. came off the bench for 14 points, connecting on four 3-point shots, and Chandler Bing finished with 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field as the Commodores won a nonconference matchup with Wake Forest for the second year in a row.
Kevair Kennedy scored a game-high 20 points for Wake Forest (1-1), but the Demon Deacons couldn’t overcome their shooting woes with a paltry 35.1% efficiency mark from the floor. Gavin Placide provided 10 points and eight rebounds. Wake Forest was limited to 24 second-half points.
Vanderbilt prevailed despite shooting 38.9% from the field, but tracking down 17 offensive rebounds helped its cause. The Commodores attempted 72 field goals, while Wake Forest countered with only 54.
Tanner finished with a career-best 10 boards and recorded his first career double-double.
Glass also drained four 3-pointers and matched Tanner by shooting 6-for-14 from the field.
Wake Forest received only eight points from its reserves, while it was hindered by 6-for-26 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
Vanderbilt scored only seven points in the first eight minutes of the second half, allowing Wake Forest to close within 46-40 on Kennedy’s 3-pointer.
But the Commodores got cranked up again, scoring 10 points during a stretch of a little more than three minutes to establish a 56-45 advantage. Wake Forest’s comeback bid was quashed by connecting for only one field goal during a span of nearly six minutes.
The margin grew to 70-47 with a 14-0 run that included scoring from five different players.
Vanderbilt closed the first half with nine answered points to take a 39-27 lead at the break. Glass had five points and Bing added the other four points in the spurt.
Wake Forest hasn’t won a true road game against a Top 25 team in 16 years.