Gardner-Webb jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead with 16:57 remaining in the first half. From there, Vanderbilt reeled off 19 straight points and didn’t look back.
Luke Kornet led the charge, hitting three of his five shots and adding four points at the line to finish with 10 points in the first half. He came out of the game after suffering a left ankle sprain with four minutes left in the first and did not return.
“We found out at halftime we weren’t going to have Luke [Kornet] anymore,” head coach Kevin Stallings said. “Jeff Roberson got us kick-started the rest of the way.