OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tyler Tanner had 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Vanderbilt rallied to beat McNeese 78-68 in an NCAA Tournament game on Thursday.
The Commodores (27-8), the No. 5 seed in the South Region, will play No. 4 seed Nebraska in the second round on Saturday.
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Duke Miles scored 13 points and Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel each added 12 for Vanderbilt, which trailed by 12 points in the first half and then took control after the break.
The Commodores shot 51% (26 of 51) from the field and made 17 of 20 free throws.
Garwey Dual scored 16 points and Larry Johnson added 15 for No. 12 seed McNeese, which was trying to knock off a No. 5 seed for the second straight year. The Cowboys beat Clemson in the first round last year under Will Wade, who then left for N.C. State.
McNeese led for much of the first half before Vanderbilt, which lost to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament championship game, got untracked. Nickel’s 3-pointer with 4:09 left in the half gave the Commodores a 30-28 lead, their first since it was 3-2.
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Vanderbilt led 38-35 at halftime and extended it to 45-35 on back-to-back 3s by Miles and Nickel early in the second half. McNeese responded with a 7-0 run to make it 45-42, but that was as close as the Cowboys (26-9) would get.
McNeese made 25 of 69 shots (36.2%).
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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