OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Scotty Pippen Jr. finished with 22 points and six assists, Jordan Wright added a double-double and Vanderbilt rallied to beat Mississippi 63-61 on Saturday.
Pippen, who hit 7 of 18 shots from the floor with three 3-pointers, has scored 20-plus points in seven straight games for the Commodores (15-15, 7-11 Southeastern Conference), passing the school record of six set by Shan Foster in the 2007-08 season. Wright scored 14 on 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds. Reserve Liam Robbins pitched in with 12 points and six boards.
Austin Crowley came off the bench to score 11 first-half points, leading the Rebels (13-18, 4-14) to a 33-26 lead at intermission.
Vanderbilt took a 47-45 lead — its first of the second half — on back-to-back 3-pointers by Trey Thomas and Myles Stute with 11:56 remaining. Sammy Hunter answered with a basket for Ole Miss to knot the score, but Pippen had a steal and a layup, Wright scored off a rebound and — following two free throws by Crowley — Pippen buried a 3-pointer to give the Commodores a 54-49 lead with 7:09 left.
Another 3-pointer by Pippen pushed Vanderbilt's lead to 60-53 at the 2:39 mark. Matthew Morrell scored the final eight points for Mississippi, twice pulling the Rebels within two points, the second time with 53 seconds to go. But Murrell missed from deep with 11 seconds left and, after Pippen missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity, James White couldn't connect on a jumper at the buzzer.
Murrell and Crowley scored 15 each to pace Ole Miss. Nysier Brooks added 12 points.
Vanderbilt will enter the upcoming SEC tournament as the 11th seed, while Ole Miss will be seeded 13th.
___
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
