BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP)—Corey Smith had 25 points and Vanderbilt held off a late Indiana rally for a 67-60 victory in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
Shan Foster had 11 points for the Commodores (19-13), who never trailed against the Hoosiers and shot 50 percent from the field.
Bracey Wright finished with 17 points and four rebounds, and Robert Vaden scored 13 for Indiana (15-14), which was making its first appearance in the NIT since 1985.
With Vanderbilt holding a 53-42 lead, the Hoosiers used a 12-6 run to close the gap to five with 1:09 left. But four straight free throws by Foster and Smith pushed the lead back to 63-54 with 34 seconds left.
The Commodores took control of the game in the opening half, shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. Indiana got off to a cold start and finished the half by making 38 percent of its shots.
Vanderbilt took its biggest lead, 28-19, late in the half, but the Hoosiers scored the final four points to close within 31-26 at the break.
The Commodores used a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 40-30 early in the second half before Indiana cut the deficit to 53-46 with 6:21 left after consecutive dunks by Wright and Roderick Wilmont.
The game was played before a record-low crowd of 5,113 at Assembly Hall. The previous low attendance for an Indiana men’s game was 7,249 set on Jan. 3, 1999 against Illinois.
