NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ First-year Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings says things are getting exciting, almost too exciting, for his team.

The 22nd-ranked Commodores, who were just 14-15 last season under Jan van Breda Kolff, improved to 16-4 overall and 6-3 in the Southeastern Conference with a 65-64 victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

``It was pretty exciting, more exciting than we wanted it to be,'' Stallings said. ``Mississippi State played very well, as hard as they could.''

Dan Langhi was 8-for-21 from the field, but his 21 points were just enough to enable the Commodores to nip the Bulldogs (12-10, 3-6) when Robert Jackson missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.

``I wish we'd won by more, but we'll take it,'' said Langhi, the conference's leading scorer and the only SEC player to average over 20 points per game. ``Winning is winning.''

With 2.2 seconds on the clock and no timeouts remaining for the Bulldogs, Todd Myles inbounded the ball to Jackson along the right baseline. Jackson spun and shot a jumper that banged off the back iron.

``That (play) wasn't what we wanted, but with two seconds to go you're trying to get it in somewhere,'' Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury said. ``With two seconds to go, you get what you get.''

Langhi had 14 points in the first half on 6-for-10 shooting. In the second half, Langhi made just two of 11 shots.

``When Dan Langhi goes 8-for-21 we know we're going to have a tough night,'' Stallings said.

Vanderbilt's Anthony Williams got his only basket of the game and turned it into a three-point play with 3:50 left, putting the Commodores up 61-56.

Tang Hamilton hit a jumper with 43 seconds left to cut the Commodores' lead to 65-64. Mississippi State's Derrick Zimmerman had a steal to set up the final play for the Bulldogs, who used their final timeout with 14 seconds left.

After Hamilton lost the ball in the lane, Vanderbilt's James Strong grabbed it but was on the baseline.

``I'm proud of our kids,'' Stansbury said. ``I thought we defended and rebounded about as well as you can. To have a last-second shot to win a game on the road against a Top 25 team, you can't ask for more than that.''

Marckell Patterson had 13 points and Antonio Jackson added 12 for the Bulldogs.

Strong had 13 points and six rebounds for the Commodores.