Quinndary Weatherspoon's buzzer-beater another hit to Vanderbilt resume
Vanderbilt blew a 17-point lead against Mississippi State on Tuesday night, as freshman guard Quinndary Weatherspoon took advantage of a second-chance opportunity by sinking a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer for the 75-74 win.
Here's a view from the baseline in slow motion.
VIDEO | Relive the @IAM_QUINN4 three point buzzer beater as the Bulldogs down the Commodores, 75-74: #HailState pic.twitter.com/VUMzCkkBQE
— MSU Men's Basketball (@HailStateMBK) February 17, 2016
Vanderbilt, a top-20 team in the preseason, entered Starkville squarely on the bubble. The latest Bracket Watch projection had the Commodores as one of the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament. The loss Vandy to 15-11 (7-6 SEC).
“It was a very disappointing game for us,” Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings said following the game. “When you control a game that long you should win. We just have to do a better job at the end of games. We made bad turnovers and didn’t get back on defense. And (Weatherspoon) is a good player and he really hurt us, especially in the second half.”
The Commodores have three RPI top-50 wins over Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M. But those wins are offset by losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State, two teams outside of the of the RPI top-100.
To make matters worse, other bubble teams like Butler, Florida, Pittsburgh and VCU all picked up wins the same night.
With five regular season games left -- two of them against No. 14 Kentucky and at Texas A&M -- Vanderbilt made earning an at-large bid that much tougher with Tuesday night's second-half collapse.
