National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Vanderbilt 65, Auburn 35
When: 1:30 PM ET, Saturday, January 7, 2012
Where: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials: # JB Caldwell, # Lee Cassell, # Kevin Scott
Attendance: 13473

John Jenkins hit five 3-pointers and Vanderbilt cruised in its SEC opener, pounding Auburn 65-35 in Nashville, Tenn.

Jenkins finished with 17 points and Jeffery Taylor added 16 points for the Commodores (11-4, 1-0), who won their fifth in a row by using two big first-half runs to open up a 38-19 halftime advantage over the punchless Tigers (10-5, 0-1).

Down 3-1 two minutes in, Vanderbilt scored 10 unanswered points, capped by Taylor’s 3-pointer with 16:14 left in the half to put the Commodores up 11-3.
Later in the half, Vanderbilt used a 17-5 spurt to take a 30-11 lead on another Taylor 3-pointer with 7:26 remaining before halftime.

Taylor, the SEC’s fourth-leading scorer, finished 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Jenkins, who leads the conference in scoring, shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Brad Tinsley finished with 12 points and six assists.

Auburn, which shot just 27.3 percent from the field (15-for-55) and scored a season low in points, was led by Chris Denson’s seven points.

Vanderbilt plays Tuesday at South Carolina. Auburn, which has lost four of its past six, hosts No. 2 Kentucky on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
 
Auburn   Vanderbilt
Chris Denson 7 Scoring John Jenkins 17
Rob Chubb 2 Assists Brad Tinsley 6
Allen Payne 7 Rebounds Festus Ezeli 8
Allen Payne 1 Free Throws Made Rod Odom 3
Rob Chubb 1 Steals Lance Goulbourne 3
Josh Wallace 2 Blocks Festus Ezeli 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Auburn 35 27.3 3-13 2-10 6 30 5 4 12
Vanderbilt 65 44.9 13-29 8-16 12 39 6 8 11