Kentucky, Alabama Up Next

Reconnaissance

• Meeting for the 195th time, Kentucky holds an all-time series advantage over the Commodores, 147-47. Kentucky has won the last nine matchups. Vanderbilt’s last win was a 74-62 home victory Feb. 27, 2016. In 71 games at Memorial Gym, Vanderbilt trails the Wildcats, 48-23, including defeats in each of the last four. Vanderbilt led late at Rupp Arena earlier this season and missed two game-tying threes before the buzzer in a 77-74 loss Jan. 5.
• In 141 all-time meetings, Alabama holds a slight 71-70 edge over the Commodores. Alabama has won three of the last four (and four of the last six) in the series, but the Commodores won the most recent matchup—an 87-79 victory in Tuscaloosa on March 3. Alabama leads the series in Tuscaloosa, 45-22.

Limited Students Allowed

• Vanderbilt announced Monday it will allow a limited number of students from the senior class at Wednesday’s men’s basketball game against Kentucky.
• Vanderbilt undergraduate students are tested twice weekly and are under strict campus protocols to limit the spread of the disease.
• The university has worked to prepare Memorial Gymnasium for students to ensure physical distancing. Masks will also be required and services such as concessions will not be activated to limit movement within the stadium.

Mississippi State Debrief

• Vanderbilt’s had the same starting lineup for the second straight game—Scotty Pippen Jr., Dylan Disu, Clevon Brown, Jordan Wright and Maxwell Evans. The Commodores have had 11 different starting lineup combinations in 16 games.
• 12 different Commodores have started a game.
• Pippen Jr. is the only Commodore to start every game this season and has started 30 in a row.
• Vanderbilt won its first game in Starkville since a 72-31 victory in 2013 and earned it’s largest SEC road win since a 29-point victory at Auburn in 2016. 
• Entering the game, Brown had 16 points (1.8 ppg) through his first nine games this season. On Saturday, he scored 15 points (6 of 7 FG) with a career-high five steals.
• “Holding that team to three offensive rebounds with the size that they have was just unbelievable. Then we shared the ball on offense and did everything we needed to do to make sure we that put enough points on the board.” – Head Coach Jerry Stackhouse.

Trends 

• Vanderbilt has a +21 point differential in its last four SEC games. Both wins have been by double digits and both losses have been by just six points.
• In those last four games, Evans leads the Commodores in scoring at 16.5 points per game, including 14 of 25 (.560) from 3-point range. (As a team, Vanderbilt is shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc).
• In two games last week, Vanderbilt held its opponents to 38.7 percent from the floor. Prior to last week, opponents were shooting at a 48.2 percent clip. Opponents were held to 62 points per game compared to their 74.4 season average and opponent turnovers were up to 17 per game (13.3 average)­—mostly due to Vandy’s 10.5 steals per game (season average was 6.7).
• For the first time this year, Vanderbilt has been at nearly full strength. For the last three games, all but one player has been available—freshman Tyrin Lawrence (ACL). In all this season, Vanderbilt has had 11 players injured for a total of 41 missed games: Disu (1), Akeem Odusipe (2), Wright (2), DJ Harvey (2), Quentin Millora-Brown (3), Drew Weikert (3), Issac McBride (3), Myles Stute (4), Lawrence (8), Brown (6), Braelee Albert (7).

Fire Away

• The Commodores rank second in the SEC in made 3s per game (9.5). Vanderbilt has made at least four 3s in 31 consecutive games. The streak began immediately after the Commodores were held without a 3 for the first time in 1,080 games against Tennessee on Jan. 25, 2020.

Keys to Victory

• In four of five SEC wins under Stackhouse, Vanderbilt has eclipsed the 80-point mark. In all, Vanderbilt has hit the 80-point mark 14 times in the 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 6-2 when tied or leading at the half and 0-8 when trailing at the break this season. 
• Vanderbilt is 4-1 when scoring 75 or more and 2-9 when scoring less than 75 this season. 
• Evans is averaging 12.2 points per game in Vanderbilt’s wins and just 4.5 points in losses. 
• The Commodores are 0-6 during the week this season. 

Sophomore Standouts

• Disu leads the SEC in rebounding with 8.4 per game. He is also tops in the conference in defensive rebounding with 6.4 per game.
• Disu, who averaged a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in two games, has four double-doubles this season (nine for his career).
• Not only is Pippen Jr. second in the SEC with 20.3 points per game, he is also second in the league with 5.4 assists per game. He is one of just three players in the nation averaging more than 20 points and five assists per game—and one of just two Power 5 players.
• Pippen has scored at least 20+ points seven times and 30+ points twice, including a career-high 32 at Florida.
• Pippen, who was named preseason All-SEC second team, scored at least 15 points in 11 straight games from Dec. 13 – Jan. 30­—the longest streak by a Vanderbilt player since John Jenkins in 2011-12 (19 straight). 
• 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 16 games, while also leading the Dores in assists 13 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) as well as the first Commodore since 2015 to record a double-double with points and assists (Wade Baldwin IV).
• Pippen was the first Commodore in five years with 5+ assists in four straight games (Wade Baldwin IV did so in four consecutive SEC games in February 2016). 

Looking Astern — W, 72-51 at Mississippi State

• Vanderbilt had three in double figures and buried 13 3s en route to a 72-51 win Saturday at Mississippi State.
• Evans led the Commodores with 20 points while Pippen Jr. scored 18 and dished out nine assists. Brown chipped in 15 points to go along with five steals.
• A 17-2 run to end the half gave Vandy a 45-30 lead at the break. The Bulldogs were never within single digits in the second half. 

A Vandy Victory Would…

• … mark the first back-to-back SEC wins since the final two regular season games of the 2019-20 season. 
• … be the third SEC win in the last five games (won three of the previous 42 conference games). 
• … snap Kentucky’s longest win streak in the series since an 18-game run from 1994-2002.
• … match last season’s SEC win total in at least six fewer games. 
• … make Stackhouse 2-1 against Alabama, including 2-0 in Tuscaloosa.
• … mark the first top 10 road win since a 63-61 victory over No. 7 Florida (Jan. 20, 2001).
• … be the second in the last four games against top 25 opposition.

A Vandy Defeat Would…

• … be the 10th in a row overall to Kentucky and fifth in a row to the Wildcats at home.
• … be the fourth in the last five meetings with Alabama.
• … be less good than a win.

On Deck

•  Vanderbilt has an open date Feb. 24 that could be filled with an SEC game and senior night is set for Feb. 27.