Nov. 18, 2017
The Commodores will turn back the clock this Sunday when they welcome the number ten ranked USC Trojans to Memorial Gym in the first meeting between the two schools since 1975. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. CT, with the game airing live on SEC Network, on the radio with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network, and online on vucommodores.com.
Vanderbilt improved to 2-1 on the season after defeating UNC Asheville, 79-76, on Friday night at Memorial Gym. Senior Jeff Roberson garnered his third consecutive double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, the first Commodore to accomplish the feat since Dan Langhi in 1998. Seniors Matthew Fisher-Davis and Riley LaChance also added 17 points, while sophomore big man Djery Baptiste tallied career highs in points (13) and rebounds (8).
Roberson and Yante Maten of Georgia are the only two SEC players with double doubles in every game to start the season. Roberson leads the league with three and Maten has two.
Commodores vs. Ranked Opponents
Vanderbilt has an all-time record of 94-228 all time against ranked opponents and a 64-75 mark in home games. Coach Drew is 4-2 against ranked opponents as the Commodore head coach and 2-1 in home ranked matchups.
Media Information
Vanderbilt (2-1) vs. #10 USC (2-0)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7:00 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Taylor Zarzour (pxp), Dane Bradshaw (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: USC leads 4-1.
Last Meeting: USC win, 77-72, on 12/5/75 at Memorial Gym.
Record at Vanderbilt: USC leads 2-1.
Record at USC: USC leads 1-0.
Record at Neutral Site: USC leads 1-0.
Coach Drew vs. USC: Coach Drew has never faced USC.
More information on the USC series
- USC enters Sunday’s game with a record of 2-0 after posting wins over Cal State Fullerton and North Dakota State.
- Bennie Boatwright leads the Trojans in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game. Chimezie Metu adds 16.0 points, and Jordan McLaughlin pitches in 12.0 points per contest.
- USC leads the all-time series, 4-1, but the two teams have not met since the 1975-76 season. The Commodores are 1-2 in games played against the Trojans at Memorial Gym.
- Sunday’s meeting is the first of a home-and-home series between the two schools. Next season, Vanderbilt will travel to Los Angeles.
- USC Assistant Coach/Director of Scouting Martin Bahar was a student manager for the Commodores from 2002-06.
Vanderbilt Quick Hitters
- Freshman Saben Lee, who had five assists against UNC Asheville, has led the team in assists for every game this season. Lee made his first collegiate start againt UNC Asheville.
- Commodore head coach Bryce Drew, now in his second season, led the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in his first season in Nashville, marking the first time in the history of the program a first-year Vanderbilt coach led his team to the tournament. Overall, the Commodores made their 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first back-to-back appearances since making three consecutive tournaments from 2010-12.
- Vanderbilt has two 1,000-point scorers on their roster – Riley LaChance and Matthew Fisher-Davis, with Jeff Roberson 126 points away from the 1,000-point mark. LaChance is 2nd in the SEC in returning scorers while Fisher-Davis is third behind Georgia’s Yante Maten.
- Vanderbilt has an all-time record of 94-228 all time against ranked opponents and a 64-75 mark in home games. Coach Drew is 4-2 against ranked opponents as the Commodore head coach and 2-1 in home ranked matchups.
- The Commodores return eight letter winners and three of their top four scorers in 2017-18 that advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year – seniors Matthew Fisher-Davis (13.9), Jeff Roberson (10.8), and Riley LaChance (10.5). Junior Joe Toye, who started in 13 games a year ago, also returns after averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. In all, Vanderbilt returns 70.5% of its scoring and six players who started at least one game in 2016-17.
- Vanderbilt had five top-25 wins, six top-50 victories and 11 top-100 RPI wins a year ago, the overall toughest strength of schedule and toughest non-conference 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) had more.
- The Commodores played 11 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17 (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 came against teams that advanced to the postseason. This season, nine of their potential games will be against teams who played in the postseason a year ago. Six possible opponents, USC, Rhode Island, Seton Hall, Virginia, Kansas State, and Middle Tennessee, all played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, with NIT participant Belmont, 2017 NIT Champion TCU, and CollegeInsider.com Tournament team UNC Asheville also on the challenging slate.
- The Commodores have had five NBA Draft picks since 2012 – Wade Baldwin IV (17th, Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Jones (30th, Golden State Warriors), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta), Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State), and Jeffery Taylor (31st, Charlotte) in 2012.
- Vanderbilt welcomes six newcomers to the team in 2017-18 – true freshmen guards Saben Lee (6-2, 174, Tempe, Ariz.) and Maxwell Evans (6-2, 186, Houston, Texas), true freshman big man Ejike Obinna (6-10, 234, Enugu, Nigeria), redshirt sophomore transfers Matt Ryan (6-8, 209 forward, Notre Dame) and Yanni Wetzell (6-10, 235 forward/center, St. Mary’s (Texas)), and freshman walk-on guard Isaiah Rice (5-11, 189, Carmel, Ind.).
SEC Three-Point Leaders
Of the top 20 season 3 pt FG %’s in SEC history, Vanderbilt has 5 of them.
4. Billy McCaffrey (51.2%, 1993)
7. Barry Booker (50.0%, 1987)
T9. Riley LaChance (48.6%)
12. John Jenkins (48.3%, 2010)
16. Shan Foster (46.9%, 2008).
On the top 20 SEC career 3-point % list with at least 300 attempts, Vanderbilt has six guys.
2. Booker 46%
3. McCaffrey 44.6%
8. Scott Draud 43.8%
8. Jenkins 43.8%
14. Dan Cage 42.6%
19. Foster 42.1%
LaChance made threes at high clip in 2016-17
Riley LaChance, who played the point guard position in 2016-17 and will slide over to his more natural two-guard spot in his senior season, made 48.6% of his three-point attempts last year, which 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. LaChance led the SEC in three-point shooting in 2016-17, and his three-point field goal percentage a year ago ties for the ninth-best in SEC history.
Career and Single-Season Lists
Matthew Fisher-Davis is 8th in 3’s made in a career with 236. Riley LaChance‘s 48.6% from three clip in 2016-17 is Vanderbilt’s 3rd-best all-time.
More Threes
Making threes is not a new thing for this year’s Commodore team. Combined in their career, current players have made 590 career threes.
700th SEC Win
Vanderbilt is in its 85th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. The Commodores won their 700th league game at Florida, and all time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 709-693.
1,002
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 1,002 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank third only to UNLV and Kentucky 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.
