NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Commodores return to the road for their regular season finale when they take on the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised 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
- Vanderbilt dropped to 9-21 on the season and 0-17 in SEC play after falling to Arkansas, 84-48, Wednesday evening at Memorial Gym. Aaron Nesmith led the Commodores with 11 points. Junior Yanni Wetzell also had a career-high 11 rebounds for Vanderbilt.
- Aaron Nesmith was named the Co-SEC Player of the Week earlier this season after averaging 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in games against Florida and Auburn. The honor is the third by a Vanderbilt freshman after Darius Garland and Simisola Shittu captured the honor earlier this season.
- Vanderbilt and Kentucky are the only two teams in the SEC that have had three different players named as Freshman of the Week. This year is also the first time the Commodores have had three different players selected as Freshman of the Week in one season.
- Lee leads the Commodores in scoring with 12.4 points per game and Shittu in rebounding with 6.8 rebounds per contest. Nesmith is the team’s leading scorer in SEC games only (13.8 points).
- Joe Toye is the only senior on this year’s team and was honored on Senior Day Wednesday. Entering Saturday’s contest, he has played in 127 career games.
- This will be the Commodores’ first meeting against LSU this season. LSU has a 31-22 advantage in games played in Baton Rouge.
- This will be the 117th career meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1922-23 season. The Commodores lead the series all time, 62-54.
- Vanderbilt, an inaugural member of the Southeastern Conference, is in their 86th season of SEC competition. Vanderbilt has won two SEC Tournament titles (1951, 2012) and three regular season titles in 1965, 1974, and 1993. This is the 67th SEC season in Memorial Gym for the Commodores.
- The Commodores are locked into the number 14 seed next week at the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena, and will take on number 11 seed Texas A&M at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
- The Commodores enter the game as the 302nd-most experienced team in the country according to KenPom.com.
- Shittu is the league’s freshman leading rebounder with 6.9 rebounds per game in all games. His current rebounding average is the fourth-highest by a Vanderbilt freshman in the history of the program. Nesmith’s 5.7 rebounds per game is eighth among all Commodore freshmen all time.
- Vanderbilt freshman guard Darius Garland declared for the NBA Draft on Jan. 22.
- Vanderbilt’s average height is 78.5 inches (6 feet, 5 inches) and ranks 14th nationally according to KenPom.
- The Commodores have marched to the charity-stripe 677 times this season, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Vanderbilt is fifth in the SEC with 459 free throw makes. 22.2% of the team’s points comes from free throws (24th nationally).
- Vanderbilt also ranks in the top five in the SEC in 3FG Attempts (3rd, 694).
- Individually, Lee is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists per game (8th, 4.0), free throw attempts (3rd, 184) and free throws made (3rd, 126). Matt Ryan is ranked in 3FG attempts (7th, 172), while Shittu is ranked in defensive rebounds per game (7th, 5.13) and free throw attempts (9th, 141).
- Lee’s 119 assists places him seventh on Vanderbilt’s single-season assist list for a sophomore.
- The Commodores signed a pair of four-star prospects in the early signing period. Austin Crowley, a 6’4 shooting guard from West Point, Miss. who attends Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas, and Dylan Disu, a 6’8 power forward from Pflugerville, Texas who attends Hendrickson High School, each signed a letter of intent with the Commodores in November.
About LSU
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 62-54
Last Meeting: LSU win, 88-78, on 2/20/18 in Baton Rouge
Record at Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt leads, 35-16
Record at LSU: LSU leads, 31-22
Record at Neutral Site: LSU leads, 7-5
Coach Drew vs. LSU: Coach Drew is 2-1 all-time against LSU
- LSU enters the game with a 25-5 overall mark and a 15-2 record in the SEC after a recent 79-78 overtime win over Florida on Wednesday in Gainesville.
- This will be the only meeting between the two schools this season.
- Sophomore Tremont Waters is the team’s leading scorer with 15.4 points per game. Skylar Mays (13.6), Naz Reid (13.3), and Javonte Smart (11.5) also average double figures.
- LSU leads the all-time series between the two schools, 31-22, in games played in Baton Rouge.
- Head coach Bryce Drew was born in Baton Rouge (Sept. 21, 1974) during the time his father Homer was an assistant coach to LSU legend Dale Brown (1972-76).
Vanderbilt (9-21, 0-17) vs. LSU (25-5, 15-2)
Baton Rouge, La. – Pete Maravich Assembly Center – 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp), Dane Bradshaw (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from Learfield/IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 386
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Three Point U
The Commodores are one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a three-point basket in every game since the inception of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
With a made three against LSU, Vanderbilt will move to 1,062 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
Freshmen Leading the Charge
The Commodores are one of only 10 programs (Duke, UNC Asheville, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Mount St. Mary’s, Rice, and UTEP) in the nation to have three separate freshman score 20 points or more in a game (Darius Garland, Aaron Nesmith, Simisola Shittu)
Commodores in 86th SEC Season
Vanderbilt is now in its 86th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 716-725.
