LaChance leads Vandy again

Riley LaChance led Vanderbilt's charge once again in a 99-79 win over Western Carolina on Tuesday night.

The sharpshooting freshman scored 26 points and made five 3-pointers, both career highs, to help rally the Commodores from a 12-point deficit to a second-half offensive explosion.

LaChance, who also had 26 points in Saturday's win over Purdue, became the first Vanderbilt player to score at least 26 points in back-to-back games since John Jenkins did it in February 2012.

"These last two days, we talked about this game being a test of our maturity (following the win over Purdue)," LaChance said. "We came out slow, but we played more of our style in the second half. We played harder and more together, and we were real aggressive."

Vanderbilt's 99 points marked its most since scoring 102 against Ole Miss on Feb. 16, 2012. The Commodores made 38 of 43 free throws and shot 69.6 percent from the field in the second half.

James Siakam added a season-high 20 points on 12-of-13 foul shots. Damian Jones had 16 points, including eight of Vanderbilt's first 10 points of the second half.

"Damian started it up for us at the start of the second half, and then everyone else jumped in," coach Kevin Stallings said. "And I think we are very cognizant of who butters our bread, and I think they understand that the more they throw it to him the better off we are."

After Jones' spurt, LaChance scored nine points in only 1:34 to pace an 11-0 run midway through the second half that put Vanderbilt ahead for good. The Commodores (7-2) outscored WCU (3-7) 44-26 in the final 13 minutes.

The Commodores padded their lead with a seven-point possession. Siakam was fouled hard on a shot in the paint by WCU's Justin Browning, who was also called for a technical foul for his reaction to the initial call.

Siakam hit two foul shots. LaChance made two free throws for the technical. And Matthew Fisher-Davis nailed a 3-pointer to extend Vanderbilt's lead to 78-59 with 8:01 remaining.

Western Carolina led for nearly 17 minutes in the first half, pushing its advantage to as high as 12.

The Catamounts went 11-of-15 from the field and 5-of-5 from 3-point range to start the night. Rhett Harrelson, a 5-foot-10 point guard, buried five straight 3-pointers to begin the game, with the fourth one earning a 28-16 lead with 9:18 remaining in the first half.

Later in the first half, a Western Carolina three-point play kept Vanderbilt at bay at 33-22. LaChance finally sparked the Commodores with three consecutive 3-pointers in a two-minute span to lead a 19-11 run, and Vanderbilt trailed 44-41 at halftime.

Harrelson led WCU with 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

Reach Adam Sparks at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @AdamSparks.