MBB travels to #14/13 Marquette Thursday

Dec. 27, 2011

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The Commodores return from their holiday break to take on nationally ranked Marquette Thursday night in the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN3 at 8 p.m., and can also be heard live on the Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College in the middle Tennessee area and online at vucommodores.com.

Vanderbilt and Marquette will play for the second consecutive season – last year at Memorial Gym, Commodore forward Andre Walker made a running layup with 4.1 seconds remaining and then Vanderbilt withstood a final Golden Eagles’ shot as the buzzer sounded to come away with the 77-76 victory.

Series Information
Series Record:
Marquette leads the all-time series, 3-2.
Last Meeting:
Vanderbilt won last year’s meeting at Memorial Gym, 77-76, on December 29, 2010.
Record at Vanderbilt:
1-1.
Record at Marquette:
1-1.
Record at Neutral Site:
0-1
Coach Stallings vs. Marquette:
Coach Stallings is 1-0 against Marquette.

Media Information
Radio:
Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com; XM 91
Radio Talent:
David Shumate (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
TV:
ESPN2, ESPN3
TV Talent:
Dave O’Brien (pxp), Jimmy Dykes (analyst)
Live Stats:
vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates:
@VandyMBB

More On The Marquette Series

  • Thursday’s meeting will be the sixth in the career series between the two schools, and the second in Milwaukee. Marquette leads the all-time series, 3-2, and 1-0 in games played in Milwaukee.
  • The last meeting between the two schools in Milwaukee came in the 1926-27 season.
  • Coach Stallings is 1-0 against Marquette.
  • Vanderbilt is 0-1 against the Big East so far this season (62-60 OT loss at Louisville), and 25-39 in games against current members of the Big East.
  • The game Thursday night is the back end of a home-and-home agreement between the two schools. Andre Walker hit a running layup with 4.1 seconds to go in regulation to give Vanderbilt a dramatic, 77-76 win over the Golden Eagles at Memorial Gym on December 29, 2010. Jeffery Taylor led five players in double figures with 19 points, and Brad Tinsley added eight assists.

More on Marquette
Marquette is 11-1 on the season, with their only loss coming at LSU on December 19. Darius Johnson-Odom leads the Golden Eagles in scoring with 17.9 points per game, with Jae Crowder adding 17.3 points and Vander Blue chipping in 10.2 points per contest. Crowder leads the team on the glass with 7.3 rebounds per game.

Quick Hitters

  • Vanderbilt won their second consecutive game on December 21 with an 89-58 win over Lafayette at Memorial Gym. John Jenkins tied a career high with seven threes in route to a game-high 27 points. Jeffery Taylor added 16 points, Lance Goulbourne chipped in 15 points, and Brad Tinsley tied a career-high with 10 assists.
  • The Commodores sport the leading scorer (John Jenkins, 20.6 ppg) and the third-leading scorer (Jeffery Taylor, 17.6 ppg) in the SEC. Jenkins also paces the league in three’s made at 3.8 per game.
  • Taylor has scored 20 or more points in three out of four games, and is averaging 24.8 points per game in those four games. He is 39-59 from the floor over that span (69.1%).
  • Taylor is third in the SEC in field goal percentage (.546), and has made more field goals than any other player in the conference (83).
  • The Commodores are 27 for 59 in their last two games from three – a 45.8% clip.
  • Vanderbilt is 0-2 this year in games against ranked opponents – with both games going to overtime. The Commodores dropped an 82-70 decision to Xavier on November 28 at Memorial Gym, and then a 62-60 game to Louisville on December 2 in Louisville.
  • VU’s last win over a ranked opponent on the road came on January 27, 2010, at Tennessee (W, 85-76). The Commodores are 0-4 in road games vs. ranked opponents since then.
  • After playing in two games against Davidson and Indiana State, senior center Festus Ezeli sat out the Longwood and Lafayette games recovering from a right knee injury that sidelined him for six weeks. His injury is day-to-day, and his status Thursday is a gametime decision.
  • Although the Commodores sport an 8-4 overall record, VU’s strength of schedule is 11th in the country.
  • Vanderbilt is the only team in the SEC that sports three 1,000-point scorers in John Jenkins, Jeffery Taylor, and Brad Tinsley.

2011-12 vs. Ranked Opponents
Vanderbilt is 0-2 against ranked opponents this year, with both games going to overtime. The Commodores dropped an 82-70 decision to Xavier on November 28 at Memorial Gym, and then a 62-60 game to Louisville on December 2 in Louisville.

Record against Ranked Opponents
Vanderbilt has an 85-208 record all-time against ranked opponents, and a 59-69 record against ranked opponents at home. In the Stallings era, Vanderbilt is 31-53 against ranked foes, and 9-35 in games on the road against ranked teams. In 2010-11, Vanderbilt was 3-4 against ranked opponents and 0-3 in road contest.

Last Time Out – Vanderbilt 89, Lafayette 58
John Jenkins tied a career-high with seven made three-pointers in route to a game-high 27 points to lead Vanderbilt to an 89-58 win over Lafayette on December 21. Jeffery Taylor (16) and Lance Goulbourne (15) also scored in double figures, and point guard Brad Tinsley tied a career high with 10 assists in the victory.

  • Vanderbilt shot 58.3% from the floor, a new season high, and also shot a season-best 50% from three.
  • The Commodores outrebounded Lafayette, 35-24, and moves to 8-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
  • VU had a season-high 21 assists against the Leopards.
  • The 15 made three’s were the most since Vanderbilt made 15 threes against Mississippi State on March 5, 2008.
  • Vanderbilt’s six free-throw attempts was a season-low.
  • The Commodores outscored Lafayette 36-24 in points in the paint, 25-9 off of turnovers, 10-5 on second-chance points, and 22-14 in bench points.
  • Vanderbilt’s largest lead came with 37 seconds remaining in the game (31 points). Lafayette never led in the game.
  • Jenkins extended his streak to 35 consecutive games with a 3FG when he opened scoring from outside the arc for the ‘Dores. He has scored a 3 pointer in 69 of his 73 games played.
  • The Lafayette contest was the 43rd consecutive game of double-digit scoring for Jenkins.
  • Jenkins matched his career high for 3 pointers with 7, previously set against Oregon 11/11/11, and also set a new career-high in assists with four.
  • Tinsley matched his career high with 10 assists, previously set against Presbyterian 11/12/10.
  • Jeffery Taylor scored 16 points, the 10th consecutive double-digit scoring game for Taylor. Vanderbilt is now 23-5 in games since the beginning of 2010-11 when Taylor scores 15 or more points.
  • In his last four games, Taylor is averaging 24.8 points per game and is 39-59 in those games (66.1%).
  • Shelby Moats had his first career 3 and set a new scoring high with 5 pts.
  • Lance Goulbourne added 15 points, his second consecutive game with that points total and his seventh double-figure scoring game this season.

Jeffery Taylor Is Active SEC Leading Scorer
Taylor is the active scoring leader in the SEC with 1,531 career points. He leads Florida’s Erving Walker by 32 points. Taylor is also the SEC’s second-leading active rebounder with 621.

Taylor, Jenkins Moving Up Scoring Chart
Jeffery Taylor, who is averaging 17.9 points per game in his senior season, is now in the top 10 on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list with 1,531 career points. If he continues at the current pace, with 19 regular season games remaining, would end up with 1,877 points, which would put him third on the all-time list. At his current scoring pace, Jenkins would end the regular season with 1,565 points, which would make him 10th all-time.