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Ogilvy, Vanderbilt overcome huge effort from Hudson

Dec 29, 2007 - 10:43 PM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Freshman A.J. Ogilvy and No. 15 Vanderbilt overcame a huge effort by Lester Hudson to match their best start in school history.

Ogilvy scored 21 points and Shan Foster added 16 with a huge 3-pointer late to help the Commodores hang on for a 92-85 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday.

Vanderbilt (12-0), which also survived a scare from DePaul last Saturday, is off to its best start since 2003-04.

"Probably any time an OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) team walks in to play SEC (Southeastern Conference) guys, obviously there's a tendency that they might take you lighter," UT-Martin coach Bret Campbell said. "For that reason, maybe we had a little more incentive that Vanderbilt did today."

"We take pride in being undefeated, but we're not happy about the way we're playing right now," Foster said.

The SEC's top-scoring freshman at 19.0 points per game, Ogilvy scored 15 points in the first half to help the Commodores to a 51-39 lead.

However, Hudson scored 23 of his 36 points in the second half to help the Skyhawks (5-8) nearly pull off the upset.

"We tried to make it hard for him, and we got a few stops later," said Foster of Hudson. "He's a good player. ... He shoots it well, puts it on the floor well. He's just a great player."

A junior guard who entered averaging 27.6 points, Hudson hit six 3-pointers - including one that gave UT-Martin an 81-80 lead with 3:53 remaining.

"I told our team yesterday that he'll be an NBA player," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "He's quite good. He's not the third-leading score in the nation for nothing. He's capable of making a lot of baskets."

"Lester is a very good player, no doubt, but a lot of people simply don't realize how talented he is in all phases of the game," Campbell said. "He can do it all. He played well again today, and has done so against some very good teams."

But Vanderbilt survived the Skyhawks' best shot and used a 12-4 run to close out the game.

Jermaine Beal answered Hudson's shot from the arc with one of his own, and after Gerald Robinson dunked, Foster hit a 3-pointer to make it 86-85 with 2:20 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Alex Gordon came up with a key steal and hit a pair of free throws to put Vanderbilt ahead, 88-85. The Commodores sealed it by hit their final four attempts from the line.

Robinson scored 25 points for UT-Martin, which shot 49 percent (31-of-60) from the floor and 44 percent (11-of-25) from the arc.