Hitting the Road

Reconnaissance

• In the previous 156 meetings, Vanderbilt holds a 92-54 all-time edge against Georgia. However, the Bulldogs have won three straight in the series dating back to Vandy’s 81-66 victory at Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 7, 2018. Last season, Georgia’s last-second heave beat the Dores at the buzzer. Georgia leads the series in Athens, 36-31, and has won three in a row at Stegeman Coliseum since Vandy’s 59-54 win Jan. 29, 2014.

South Carolina Debrief

• For the first time, Jordan Wright, Ejike Obinna, Scotty Pippen Jr., Dylan Disu and Maxwell Evans made the start together. Vanderbilt has had 10 different starting lineup combinations in 13 games.
• 12 different Commodores have started a game.
• Scotty Pippen Jr. is the only Commodore to start every game this season and has started 27 in a row.
• “With coach Stack and the whole team, we put in a lot of work every day just getting better and going at each in practice so we knew one day this work was going to show in the game. We just came out and played two great halves and came away with the win.”

Infirmary

• Drew Weikert and Quentin Millora-Brown were not available for the third straight game Saturday while walk-on Braelee Albert missed his seventh straight game due to injury. 
• In all, Vanderbilt has had 11 players miss games this season for a total of 38 missed games: Disu (1), Odusipe (2), Wright (2), Harvey (2), Millora-Brown (3), Weikert (3), McBride (3), Stute (4), Lawrence (5), Brown (6), Albert (7).

Full Steam Ahead

• Vanderbilt hasn’t allowed many second chances. In conference play, the Dores lead the SEC in defensive rebounding percentage (.751). 
• The Commodores rank second in the SEC in made 3s per game (9.4) and in free throw percentage (.756).
• Vanderbilt has made at least four 3s in 28 consecutive games. The streak began immediately after the Commodores were held without a 3 against Tennessee on Jan. 25, 2020, ending a streak of 1,080 straight games with at least one made three.

Keys to Victory

• In each of the four SEC wins under Coach Stackhouse, Vanderbilt has eclipsed the 80-point mark. In all, Vanderbilt has hit the 80-point mark 14 times in the Coach Stackhouse era with a 11-3 record in those games, including 11-1 in regulation (only regulation loss was Jan. 9, 2021 against Mississippi State, 84-81). 
• Vanderbilt is 5-1 when tied or leading at the half and 0-7 when trailing at the break. 
• Vanderbilt is 4-1 when scoring 75 or more and 1-7 when scoring less than 75 this season. 
• Maxwell Evans is averaging 10.6 points per game in Vanderbilt’s wins and just 3.5 points in losses. 

Worth the Wait

• Vanderbilt’s season-opening date of Nov. 27 was the latest beginning to a season in 31 years. The Commodores began the 1989-90 season by facing Southern Methodist on the same Nov. 27 date. (Vanderbilt won its fourth straight season opener and its 14th straight home opener).
• With eight new players this season, Vanderbilt didn’t have much tune-up before SEC play. The Commodores played just six nonconference games­—its fewest since 1952-53 (the first season Memorial Gymnasium opened). At that time, Tulane and Georgia Tech were still in the SEC. 

Moving Up the Ranks 

• Fifth-year senior Clevon Brown has 116 career blocks. That is tied with Julian Terrell for the sixth-most in a Vanderbilt career. A.J. Ogilvy is fifth with 145.

Eligible Transfers

• Three transfers became eligible to play for Vandy this season: redshirt junior D.J. Harvey, freshman Issac McBride and redshirt sophomore Quentin Millora-Brown.
• Harvey, who began his career at Notre Dame, and Millora-Brown, who started his college career at Rice, were both with the program in 2019-20.
• McBride came to West End from Kansas in the spring and was granted a waiver to become immediately eligible.
• All three have started games this season: Harvey (9), Millora-Brown (6), McBride (1). 

Sophomore Standouts

• Dylan Disu has recorded three double-doubles this season (eight for his career) and leads the SEC in defensive rebounding with 6.5 per game. He is second in overall rebounding at 8.3 per contest.
• Not only is Scotty Pippen Jr. second in the SEC with 21.7 points per game, he is also second in the league with 5.5 assists per game. He is one of just four players in the nation averaging more than 20.0 points and 5.0 assists per game—and one of just three Power 5 players, joining Minnesota’s Marcus Carr and Auburn’s Sharife Cooper.
• Pippen, who was named preseason All-SEC second team, has scored at least 20+ points seven times and 30+ points twice, including a career-high 32 at Florida (Jan. 27).
• Pippen is the only player in the SEC this season with multiple 30-point games. He has now scored at least 15 points in 11 straight games, the longest streak by a Vanderbilt player since John Jenkins in 2011-12 (19 straight). It is also the longest streak by any SEC player this season.
• Pippen has tied or matched his career-high point total five different times this season. He has led the team in scoring nine times in 13 games, and has also led the Dores in assists 11 times. 
• Earlier this season against Kentucky and Mississippi State, Pippen became the first Commodore since 2000 with 8 or more assists in back-to-back games, and was the first Commodore since 2005 with 12 assists in a game (Mario Moore). He was also the first Commodore since Wade Baldwin IV in 2015 to record a double-double with points and assists (18 points, 12 assists against the Bulldogs).

Freshmen Five

• Vanderbilt welcomed five true freshmen to the fold for the 2020-21 season: Max Adelman, Tyrin Lawrence, Akeem Odusipe, Myles Stute and Trey Thomas. 
• Thomas, a Canadian native, was a late signee in July, while Odusipe is a Nigerian native who prepped at Catholic in Knoxville. Adelman came to Nashville as a walk-on.
• Four Vandy freshmen have started a game this year: Lawrence (5), Stute (3), Thomas (2) and McBride (1).
• Lawrence is out for the season with a torn ACL after seven games and five starts, including a collegiate debut of 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting, four assists and four rebounds and just two turnovers in 25 minutes against Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 13).

NBA and the Lottery 

• In the second round of the 2020 draft, Saben Lee was selected 38th overall by the Detroit Pistons. It marked the first time a pair of Vanderbilt players were selected in the NBA Draft since 2016. 
• Nesmith and Lee join Garland, Luke Kornet (Chicago), and Damian Jones (Phoenix) as Commodores in the NBA.

Looking Astern

• Maxwell Evans exploded for a season-high 29 and Vanderbilt broke a six-game losing streak by flying past South Carolina 93-81 on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.
• Vanderbilt led 30-13 before South Carolina scored 14 straight to make it a three-point game. But Vandy recovered for a 15-point halftime lead (52-37) and never allowed the Gamecocks within single digits again. 
• Evans’ outburst complemented Scotty Pippen Jr.’s 23 points and seven assists and Dylan Disu’s 17 points and seven rebounds. Vandy made 10 3s and shot 49 percent from the floor.

On Deck

• Vanderbilt returns home to host Auburn on Tuesday. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
• After the matchup with the Tigers, two of the next three are on the road with Kentucky at home Feb. 17.