March 15, 2017
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Northwestern Gamenotes
The Vanderbilt Commodores will participate in their 15th NCAA Tournament beginning this Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah, when they face the Northwestern Wildcats out of the Big Ten conference in the opening round of the West Region. The game will tip at 3:30 p.m. CT and will air nationally on TBS, with game audio available on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
The Commodores, who enter the game with a 19-15 overall record, have won seven of their last nine games after winning two of three games in the SEC Tournament last week. Northwestern, who is playing in their first NCAA Tournament, enters the game with a 23-11 overall record.
Tournament Tidbits
- The Commodores will be making their 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first back-to-back appearances since making three consecutive tournaments from 2010-12. Vanderbilt is 10-15 all-time in the tournament, and will be making their second appearance in Salt Lake City in the tournament.
- Vanderbilt is 2-0 in games played in Salt Lake City and made one of their four Sweet 16’s from Utah in 1993. The Commodores defeated Boise State, 92-72 (first round) and Illinois, 85-68 (second round) that season.
- Vanderbilt’s best finishes at the NCAA Tournament – Elite 8 (1965: field of 23); Sweet 16 (1988, 1993: field of 64; 2004, 2007: field of 65).
- 2017 marks the second time the Commodores have been a #9 seed in NCAA Tournament – other time came in 1991 (lost to #8 Georgetown 70-60).
- Other than the First Four appearance in 2016, the trip to Salt Lake City marks the fourth consecutive time the Commodores have been shipped west for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament – 2010, San Jose; 2011, Denver; 2012, Albuquerque.
Commodores Post Number One Strength of Schedule
- Vanderbilt has five top-25 wins, six top-50 victories and 11 top-100 RPI wins, the overall toughest strength of schedule and toughest non-conferene schedule in the nation, and were the only SEC team to sweep Florida. The Commodores are tied for the second-most top 50 wins in SEC with Florida with six – only UK (8) has more.
- The Commodores played 11 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament (Marquette, Bucknell, Butler, Minnesota, Middle Tennessee, Dayton, Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas, Iowa State, and South Carolina) and four teams in the 2017 Postseason NIT (Belmont, Alabama, Georgia, and Ole Miss). Twenty of Vanderbilt’s 34 games have come against teams that have advanced to the postseason.
Other Commodore Notes
- Vanderbilt has four 1,000-point scorers on their roster – Luke Kornet, Nolan Cressler, Riley LaChance, and Matthew Fisher-Davis. LaChance (vs. Florida) and Fisher-Davis (vs. Arkansas) eclipsed 1,000 points in the SEC Tournament.
- Kornet is the NCAA’s all-time leader for threes made by a seven footer (148). He is also Vanderbilt’s all-time leading shot blocker with 207 career blocks. He surpassed former Commodore great Festus Ezeli’s 204 total in the SEC Tournament against Arkansas.
- Matthew Fisher-Davis is the team’s leading scorer with 13.6 points per game. Luke Kornet (13.2), Jeff Roberson (11.0), and Riley LaChance (10.5) also add double digits.
- Seven of the Commodores’ nine active players have scored in double figures in a game this season.
- Vanderbilt has won seven of their last nine, eight of their last 11, and 10 of their last 14. Six of last 11 wins have come against NCAA tournament teams.
- The Commodores are the SEC’s best three-point shooting team (37.7%) and have made the most three’s per game in the SEC (9.9). Vanderbilt also leads the league in free-throw percentage (77.6%).
- Six Commodores have made 30 threes or more this season – Joe Toye, Nolan Cressler, Jeff Roberson, Riley LaChance, Luke Kornet, and Matthew Fisher-Davis.
- Altogether, Vanderbilt has made 337 threes this season, which is a new school record for a single season. The previous best was 322 in the 2004-05 campaign. The Commodores’ 77.6% clip from the charity stripe ties for the second-best in school history.
- LaChance’s 49.3% clip from three is the third-best in a single-season all-time for the Commodores – only Billy McCaffrey (51.2%, 1992-93) and Barry Booker (50%, 1986-87) have had better seasons from three.
- Bryce Drew is the first Vanderbilt coach to lead the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in his first season.
Vanderbilt (19-15, 10-8 SEC) vs. Northwestern (23-11, 10-8 Big Ten)
Salt Lake City, Utah – Vivint Smart Home Arena – 3:30 p.m. (CT)
TV: TBS
TV Talent: Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Jamie Eardahl
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 145, XM 206
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Commodores and the SEC Rankings
- In SEC play this season, Kornet was ranked in seven different categories – rebounding (9th, 6.7), free throw % (5th, .864), 3FG% (7th, .378), 3FG made (8th, 2.1), blocks (3rd, 2.2), defensive rebounding (5th, 5.0), and minutes played (7th, 33.1).
- Forward Jeff Roberson ranks seventh in the SEC in rebounding (7.1) in all games and finished eighth (6.8) in league games only, and is fourth in the league in defensive rebounding (5.2) in all games and seventh in league games only (4.8).
- In SEC play this season, Vanderbilt had three players in the top 10 in 3FG% – LaChance (2nd, .447), Kornet (7th, .378), and Matthew Fisher-Davis (10th, .336). Fisher-Davis is fifth in league games only in 3’s made (2.2), Kornet seventh (2.1) and LaChance 9th (2.0)
- Riley LaChance is shooting 49.3% from three for the season and is third in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) and seventh in the league in assists (3.9).
- Fisher-Davis is seventh in 3FG% in all games (37.2%) and second in threes made (2.5).
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads 4-1.
Last Meeting: VU win, 86-66, on Dec. 3, 1992 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 3-0.
Record at Northwestern: Series Tied 1-1.
Record at Neutral Site: N/a
Coach Drew vs. Northwestern: Coach Drew has never faced Northwestern.
About Northwestern
- Northwestern enters the game with a record 23-11 overall record and a 10-8 mark in Big Ten play.
- The Wildcats are led by Bryant McIntosh, who averages 14.4 points per game. Scottie Lindsey (14.2) and Vic Law (12.4) also average double figures.
- The Commodores sport one player from the city of Chicago – sophomore Joe Toye.
- This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams and the first on a neutral floor. Vanderbilt holds a 4-1 advantage in the series, with the last meeting coming in 1992.
- The Wildcats will be Vanderbilt’s second Big Ten opponent this season – the Commodores lost to Minnesota, 56-52, on December 3 in Sioux Falls, S.D. All time against current members of the Big Ten, Vanderbilt is 26-33.
- The Commodores are 1-2 against the Big Ten in the NCAA Tournament.
Record Against Other Teams in Pod
The Gonzaga Series (Vanderbilt and Gonzaga have never played)
The Northwestern Series (Vanderbilt leads 4-1)
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series against Northwestern 4-1…The last time the two teams matched up was on Dec. 3, 1992 in Nashville, when the Commodores defeated the Wildcats by a score of 86-66…This is Northwestern’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament…The Wildcats were the lone remaining team among “Power 5” Conference schools to never make the Big Dance before this season.
The South Dakota State Series (Vanderbilt leads 1-0)
Vanderbilt defeated South Dakota State in the two teams’ only meeting by a score of 92-77 in the Second Round of the 2015 National Invitational Tournament.
VU Staff Can Score
The Vanderbilt men’s basketball staff has combined to score a total of 5,486 collegiate points, with head coach Bryce Drew leading the way with 2,142 points. Here’s a breakdown of the staff’s scoring totals.
Head Coach Bryce Drew, Valparaiso=2,142
Asst. Coach Casey Shaw, Toledo=1,562
Assoc. Head Coach Roger Powell, Jr., Illinois=1,178
Asst. Coach Jake Diebler, Valparaiso=586
Total=5,468
Kornet NCAA leader in 3’s made by a seven-footer
Kornet is now the NCAA career three-pointers made leader with 148, surpassing Vanderbilt’s own David Przybyszewski, who has 131 career threes. Only two other seven footers have more than 100 – Derek Silvig of Montana (106) and Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin (103).
Kornet named Academic All-American
Senior center Luke Kornet has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a CoSida All-District Academic Selection in the three years he has played at Vanderbilt, and was named a CoSida 2nd Team Academic All-American on March 2nd for his work in the classroom.
Kornet joins only four other Commodore players to make either the first or second team – Jeff Fosnes (1st team, 1975, 1976), Bruce Elder (2nd team, 1992; 1st team, 1993), Steve Grant (2nd team, 1991), and Frank Seckar (2nd team, 1996).
Kornet is majoring in engineering, computer science, and mathematics.
Dores Drain Threes
Vanderbilt made 19 threes against High Point on December 6, which set a new school record for threes in a game, surpassing an 18-three performance at Tennessee on January 8, 2005.
The Commodores also set a new record for most 3-pointers made at Memorial Gym, passing the old mark of 16 that was set on Jan. 8, 1994 vs. South Carolina and then matched on Feb. 11, 1995 vs. Arkansas. The Commodores hit 12 of their 19 3-pointers in the first half.
VU Makes Gamewinner
The Commodores made their first game-winning basket in almost four years against Chattanooga on December 17, when Luke Kornet made a three with 2.9 seconds remaining to give VU the 76-74 win over the Mocs.
The game-winner was the first since Kevin Bright made a 15-footer from the baseline on February 27, 2013, to defeat Georgia, 63-62, at Memorial Gym.
Neutral Site Dores
Vanderbilt has played in four neutral site games already this season – against Minnesota in Sioux Falls, S.D., the season opener vs. Marquette (Veterans Classic, Annapolis, Md.) and the two games at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational (Butler, Santa Clara).
700th SEC Win
Vanderbilt is in its 84th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 709-693.
998
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 998 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank second only to UNLV for the longest streak in Division I basketball. Vanderbilt, UNLV and Princeton are the only three schools in college basketball to have made at least one 3-pointer in every game played since the 3-point line was implemented.
NBA Commodores
Vanderbilt was one of only three schools (Kentucky, Washington) with two first-round selections in the 2016 NBA Draft when Wade Baldwin IV was drafted 17th by the Memphis Grizzlies and Damian Jones was selected 30th by the Golden State Warriors. Baldwin IV and Jones became the sixth and seventh first-round picks, respectively, in the history of the program, joining Will Perdue in 1988 (11th, Chicago), Jeff Turner in 1984 (7th, New Jersey), Clyde Lee in 1966 (3rd, San Francisco), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta), and Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State) in 2012.
Cressler goes for 20
Senior Nolan Cressler scored a season-high 20 points in a win against Iowa State on January 28, his most as a Commodore in two seasons of action after transferring from Cornell. Cressler’s previous high was 14 points, which occurred three times in the 2015-16 season.
Fisher-Davis in Top 10 for 3’s
Matthew Fisher-Davis now has 231 threes in his Vanderbilt career and is in eighth place in career threes made on the Commodores’ all-time list.
Commodores make 16 3’s vs LSU
Vanderbilt made 16 of 32 threes in route to a 96-89 win over LSU on December 29, the Commodores third game this season making 15 or more threes.
On December 29, the two teams combined to make 33 three pointers, which set a new SEC record for combined threes in a game.
