Tyler Tanner registered 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists as fifth-seeded Vanderbilt earned a 78-68 victory over No. 12 McNeese in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament first-round South Region matchup in Oklahoma City.

Devin McGlockton scored 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds for the Commodores (27-8), while Duke Miles added 13 points and Tyler Nickel finished with 12.

It’s Vanderbilt’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2012.

“We just wanted to come out (in the second half) with more energy,” Tanner said of the Commodores holding a three-point lead at the break. “We had a long halftime and we could recoup a little bit, get our energy back, get our legs back under us, and that’s what we did.”

Garwey Dual led the Cowboys (28-6) with 16 points and six assists. Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Larry Johnson scored 15 but was 4-for-17 from the field, while Tyshawn Archie scored 13 and Javohn Garcia chipped in 10.

McNeese got the game it wanted — it won the turnover battle, 13-6, and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds — but was outshot 51.0% (26 of 51) to 36.2% (25 of 69) from the field.

“That was a hard-fought game, an entertaining game to watch,” Cowboys head coach Bill Armstrong said. “I thought we were able to get our game plan into the game for the most part. Turned them over 13 times, which they don’t do much. Won the turnover margin by seven. That gave us a chance to win.”

Miles and Nickel hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Commodores a 45-35 lead with 18:12 remaining.

The Cowboys got as close as three, but Archie, a first-team All-Southland guard, went to the locker room with 4:21 left with a cramp and didn’t return.

Tanner hit a step-back 3 on the Commodores’ next possession, extending the lead to eight with 3:51 left. McNeese, in the midst of a 6:30 field-goal drought, never got closer again.

Vanderbilt led 38-35 at halftime, with 10 points from McGlockton, mostly on open layups after a teammate exposed a weakness in the Cowboys’ 1-3-1 zone defense. Thirteen of the Commodores’ 14 first-half buckets were assisted.

McNeese took an early 16-5 lead on Johnson’s jumper just 4:47 into the game. The Cowboys took 11 more shots than Vanderbilt in the first half thanks to 10 offensive rebounds and an 8-3 advantage in turnovers.

Vanderbilt will face Nebraska on Saturday. The Cornhuskers won their first NCAA Tournament game in school history with a 76-47 pasting of Troy.

–Field Level Media