AJ Hoggard scored 18 points and dished out seven assists as Vanderbilt beat Nevada 73-71 in the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday night.
Jason Edwards (16 points) and MJ Collins (15) also scored in double figures, while Devin McGlockton added nine points and eight rebounds for the Commodores (5-0).
Kobe Sanders (13 points), Tyler Rolison (13) and Brandon Love (11) led Nevada (4-1) in scoring. The Wolf Pack’s leading scorer, Nick Davidson (18 points per game), scored just nine.
The Wolf Pack, which ranked third in the country in 3-point percentage (48.6% coming in), shot 40% from distance and 53.7% from the field.
Vanderbilt controlled most of the second half, but Nevada made a late charge to cut a 12-point deficit to three on Love’s fastbreak layup with 2:37 left.
The Wolf Pack picked up a steal out of a timeout on the Commodores’ next possession, leading to Tre Coleman’s field goal.
Hoggard drove the right side and banked in a contested layup with 1:14 left to extend the lead to four.
A turnover by Love gave it back to the Commodores, who turned it back over on a shot-clock violation aided by a Love block. Xavier DuSell then drilled a 3 with 21 seconds left, cutting the deficit back to 1.
Nevada fouled Edwards with 15.6 seconds left, putting the Commodores in the bonus; Edwards hit both. Davidson hit a short bank shot with 5.4 seconds left, cutting the deficit to one.
The Wolf Pack then fouled McGlockton with four seconds left. He hit the first free throw and missed the second, and Davidson pulled the rebound.
The Wolf Pack shot 53.6 in the first half but went just 2 of 5 on 3-pointers and trailed 37-35 at halftime.
Nevada took a 16-6 lead with 13:27 left in the half, but Vanderbilt’s Collins, starting with a layup 15 seconds later, scored the Commodores’ next 11 points in a span of 2:37 to get the Commodores within a point.
A 12-0 run early in the second half, with Collins converting a fastbreak layup off Tyler Tanner’s steal, gave Vanderbilt its first double-digit lead, 53-43, with 13:09 left.
Nevada’s Justin McBride got a putback to snap a scoring drought of 5:16 and finally end the run with 11:53 left.
Vanderbilt’s McGlockton picked up a foul with an inadvertent elbow to Davidson’s head that sent Davidson to the bench with a bloody head until 27.6 seconds remained.
