The Vanderbilt Commodores will finish off their four-game homestand this Tuesday night when they face Savannah State out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network Plus. Commodore fans can also tune into the game on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on WLAC 1510 AM and 98.3 FM, and online on vucommodores.com and the vucommodores app.
The Commodores dropped to 4-1 on the season after a 77-75 loss to Kent State on November 23. Freshman Simisola Shittu led the Vanderbilt effort with 20 points, while senior Joe Toye added 15 points and sophomore Saben Lee chipped in 13 points.
Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters
- Shittu has scored in double figures in four of five games as a collegian. He posted double-doubles in his first two games against Winthrop and USC, respectively. He leads the SEC in rebounding with 9.8 rebounds per game.
- Toye scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time of his four-year career in the first three games of the 2018-19 season. Toye is the team’s lone senior.
- Shittu’s tallied 15 rebounds against USC, the most by a Commodore since Jeff Roberson had 16 rebounds against Minnesota on December 3, 2016 in Sioux Falls, S.D. His 15 rebounds tied for the ninth-most by a Commodore in a single game in the last 20 seasons.
- Freshman guard Darius Garland suffered a meniscus injury in his left knee two minutes into the game against Kent State and will be out indefinitely.
- Garland was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week in the opening week of the year after averaging 21.5 points per game in two Commodore wins over Winthrop and USC. He also scored 33 points against Liberty on November 19, the most points scored by a SEC player this season.
- Vanderbilt won its first road game of the season at USC, the first time the Commodores have had a season-opening road win since a 72-70 win over St. Mary’s on November 20, 2009.
- Garland scored the most points by a Vanderbilt freshman in his collegiate debut (24 points) since Phil Cox scored 30 against Duke in 1981. He also tied Savion Flagg of Texas A&M for the most points scored for an SEC team in their opening game of the season.
- Shittu’s double-double was the first by a Commodore freshman in a season opener since Ted Young tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds against Rice in 1979.
- Garland has been named to the Naismith and Wooden Award Preseason Watch Lists, while Shittu was named to the Karl Malone Award Watch List, given to the nation’s top power forward.
- According to KenPom, the Commodores rank 316th in the nation in terms of experience (1.13 years).
- Head coach Bryce Drew, now in his third season, led the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in his first season in Nashville, marking the first time in the history of the program a first-year Vanderbilt coach led his team to the tournament.
- Redshirt sophomore forward Matthew Moyer, who transferred from Syracuse after the 2017-18 season, was granted immediate eligiblity by the NCAA this season on November 15.
- As of November 26, Shittu is tied for eighth in scoring (16.0) and ranks first in rebounding (9.4) and defensive rebounding (7.0). He also ranks third in field goal percentage (.564). Saben Lee is eighth in assists (4.2), Joe Toye is 10th in FT% (.813), Clevon Brown is tied for 10th in offensive rebounding (2.6), and Matt Ryan is tied for fourth in three’s made (2.6) and sixth in 3FG % (.419).
- The Commodores have had five NBA Draft picks since 2012 – Wade Baldwin IV (17th, Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Jones (30th, Golden State Warriors), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta), Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State), and Jeffery Taylor (31st, Charlotte) in 2012.
- Matthew Fisher-Davis, Riley LaChance and Jeff Roberson each departed Vanderbilt as 1,000-point scorers. Each were four-year players for the Commodores who advanced to the postseason on three different occasions (2015 NIT, 2016 and 2017 NCAA Tournaments). There has been only one other class of Vanderbilt players to have three 1,000-point scorers – the vaunted “F Troop” – Butch Feher, Joe Ford and Jeff Fosnes in 1976. Roberson (Maine Red Claws) is now playing in the NBA G League, while LaChance has taken his talents to play professionally in Poland.
About Savannah State
- Savannah State enters the game with a 3-5 record after dropping an 82-56 decision at Liberty on November 25.
- Zach Sellers leads three Tigers in double-figure scoring with 11.9 points per game. Zaquavian Smith adds 11.6 points per game while Jaquan Dotson chips in 10.9 points per game.
Media Information
Vanderbilt (4-1) vs. Savannah State (3-5)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network Plus
TV Talent: Kevin Ingram (pxp), Shan Foster (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 386
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Three Point U
The Commodores are one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a three-point basket in every game since the inception of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
With a made three against Savannah State, Vanderbilt will move to 1,037 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
Commodores in 86th SEC Season
Vanderbilt is now in its 86th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 715-706.
Against the MEAC
The Commodores are 9-1 all-time against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Vanderbilt last played a MEAC school on November 18, 2016, when they defeated Norfolk State, 72-52.
