Lexington Bound

Vanderbilt to play at Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. CT Wednesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Commodores travel to Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday to face off against their second ranked opponent of the season when they take on No. 13 Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

The game will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT and aired live on the SEC Network. 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.

Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters

• The Commodores dropped to 8-11 overall and 0-6 in league play after a 90-64 loss to South Carolina on Saturday night in Columbia, South Carolina. Junior Saben Lee led the Commodores with 17 points with freshman Scotty Pippen Jr. adding 11 points and freshman Jordan Wright chipping in 10 points.

• Kentucky will be the second ranked opponent of the season for Vandy. In Vanderbilt’s first SEC game of the season, the Commodores lost a hard-fought, 83-79 game at No. 5 Auburn. Vanderbilt is 15-89 all-time against a ranked Kentucky team and 1-52 against ranked Wildcat teams in Lexington. The only win came at Rupp Arena on Jan. 20, 2007 (No. 25 Kentucky, W, 72-67).

• Lee became the 49th player in Vanderbilt history to eclipse the 1,000-point barrier when he scored 14 points against Tennessee. He now has 1,047 career points and is 44th all-time on the Vanderbilt scoring list.

• The Commodores saw their streak of 1,080 consecutive games with a 3-pointer come to an end against Tennessee. Vanderbilt was one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a 3-point basket since the inception of the 3-point line in the 1986-87 season.

• It was announced before the Texas A&M game that Vanderbilt’s leading scorer Aaron Nesmith would be out indefinitely with a right foot injury. Prior to the injury, Nesmith led the SEC in scoring with 23 points per game and was fifth nationally. He also led the SEC and nation in 3FG/game with 4.29 and 3FG% at 52.2. He had also made an SEC-best 60 3s this season through 14 games. He also ranked eighth in free-throw percentage (82.5) and  field-goal percentage (51.2) prior to his injury.

• Senior Clevon Brown is also out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury against Liberty on Dec. 14.

• With Nesmith out indefinitely, junior guard Saben Lee emerges as the team’s scoring leader. He is averaging 15.9 points and 4.6 assists per game, which ranks 8th and 4th in the SEC in all games, respectively. Lee is also seventh in field goal percentage (..472), fourth in total free throws made (77), and fifth in total free throws attempted (105).

• Lee claimed SEC Player of the Week honors earlier this season against Buffalo, and Scotty Pippen Jr. the league’s Freshman of the Week after Commodore wins over Austin Peay and South Carolina State, respectively, earlier this season.

• Scotty Pippen Jr. is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists/game (9th, 4.0), free throws made (5th, 76), free throws attempted (5th, 105), and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, 1.52).

• The Commodores are a youthful bunch – in the last game against South Carolina, Vanderbilt started three true freshmen (Wright, Disu, Pippen Jr.),  and two juniors (Evans, Lee). True freshmen have accounted for 39% minutes played, and with Nesmith’s minutes taken away, freshmen have played 45% of minutes played. Disu, Wright, and Pippen Jr. have all scored in double figures in a game in at least one game. According to KenPom.com, Vanderbilt has 1.13 years of experience on its roster, which ranks 320th in Division I basketball.

• Among freshmen in the SEC in all games, Pippen Jr. ranks sixth (11.0) and Disu 14th (6.4 ppg) in scoring. Pippen is second in assists with 4.0/game. He is also the league’s leader in free throws made (76) and attempted (105) among all freshmen.

• In 19 games this season, Vanderbilt has used nine different starting lineups.

• New head coach Jerry Stackhouse is the 28th men’s basketball coach in the history of Vanderbilt basketball. He is the first African American Commodore men’s basketball head coach and is one of two current African American head coaches in the Southeastern Conference (Cuonzo Martin, Missouri).

• As a team, the Commodores are second in the SEC in threes made/game (8.3), and total threes (158). Vanderbilt has been to the charity stripe 445 times this season, which ranks fourth in the SEC.

• The Commodores have had five first-round NBA Draft picks since 2012, the second-most in the SEC in that time span – Darius Garland (5th, Cleveland Cavaliers), Wade Baldwin IV (17th, Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Jones (30th, Golden State Warriors), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta) and Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State). Garland, Jones, and former standout Luke Kornet (Chicago Bulls) are all active players in the NBA.

Series Information
Series Record:  Kentucky leads, 144-47
Last Meeting: Kentucky – W, 87-52
Jan. 29, 2019 – Nashville, Tenn.
At Kentucky: Kentucky leads, 92-20
Jerry Stackhouse vs. Kentucky: First meeting

Kentucky Series Records/Important Dates

• Kentucky leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt, 144-47. Kentucky has won six consecutive games in the series, dating back to a Vanderbilt win at Memorial Gym on Feb. 27, 2016 (74-62).

• Kentucky leads the series, 92-20, in games played in Lexington. The Wildcats are 40-2 against Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena.  Vanderbilt’s only wins came at Rupp came in 2006 and 2007.  The Wildcats are the Commodores’ second-most played all-time opponent (Tennessee first, 195 career meetings).    

• 1.10.06 – The Commodores knocked off Kentucky for the first time ever at Rupp Arena, 57-52. The win ended a 28-game losing streak at Rupp.

• 1.20.07 – Vanderbilt won for the second consecutive season at Rupp Arena. The 2007 Commodore squad would eventually advance to the Sweet 16 that season.

Media Information
Vanderbilt (8-11, 0-6 SEC) vs. Kentucky (15-3, 5-1 SEC)
Lexington, Ky. – Rupp Arena – 5:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Roy Philpott (pxp), Mark Wise (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from Learfield/IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: VandyStats.com
Twitter Updates:  @VandyMBB
Notes: @VandyNotes