The Vanderbilt Commodores men’s basketball team makes their first road trip of the season when they travel to Los Angeles to take on USC on Sunday evening at the Galen Center. The game will tip off at 8 pm CT and be televised on the Pac 12 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.
The Commodores return to the floor after defeating Winthrop, 92-79, in their season opener on November 6 at Memorial Gym. Two Vanderbilt freshmen, Darius Garland and Simisola Shittu, paced the Commodore effort with 24 and 18 points, respectively. Shittu also added 10 rebounds in his collegiate debut. Junior forward Matt Ryan added 16 points, while senior Joe Toye and sophomore Saben Lee each added 12 points.
Vanderbilt also shot 54.0% from the floor against Winthrop and made 10 threes against the Eagles.
Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters
- Garland tied Savion Flagg of Texas A&M for the most points scored for an SEC team in their opening game of the season.
- Shittu’s double-double was the first by a Commodore freshman in a season opener since Ted Young tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds against Rice in 1979.
- This is the 116th year of Vanderbilt basketball, with the first season taking place in 1900-01. There were no teams in 1904-05 and 1905-06.
- Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew and his staff welcome the highest decorated recruiting class in the program’s history this fall in point guard Darius Garland, forward Aaron Nesmith, and forward/center Simisola Shittu. Garland and Shittu were consensus five-star prospects, and Nesmith was a four-star recruit who won the Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year award, beating out highly touted center Zion Williamson, who eventually signed with Duke.
- Garland has been named to the Naismith and Wooden Award Preseason Watch Lists, while Shittu was named to the Karl Malone Award Watch List, given to the nation’s top power forward.
- Drew, now in his third 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.
- Vanderbilt returns eight letterwinners and two starters from a year ago, with rising sophomore guard Saben Lee leading the way after averaging 10.6 points per game in 2017-18. Senior Joe Toye, who has played significant minutes in his first three years with the Commodores, averaged 5.7 points per game. Other returnees include sophomore Maxwell Evans, junior Clevon Brown, sophomore Ejike Obinna, and sophomore walk-on Isaiah Rice.
- 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.
- Matthew Fisher-Davis, Riley LaChance and Jeff Roberson each departed Vanderbilt as 1,000-point scorers. Each were four-year players for the Commodores who advanced to the postseason on three different occasions (2015 NIT, 2016 and 2017 NCAA Tournaments). LaChance finished 15th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list with 1,476 points, Roberson 20th with 1,373 points, and Fisher-Davis 31st with 1,219 points. There has been only one other class of Vanderbilt players to have three 1,000-point scorers – the vaunted “F Troop” – Butch Feher, Joe Ford and Jeff Fosnes in 1976. Fisher-Davis (Windy City Bulls) and Roberson (Maine Red Claws) are now playing in the NBA G League, while LaChance has taken his talents to play professionally in Poland.
- Besides Fisher-Davis, LaChance and Roberson’s departures, junior guard Larry Austin, Jr. graduated with a Vanderbilt degree in May and transferred to Central Michigan as a graduate transfer and will be eligible immediately for the Chippewas. Sophomore guard Payton Willis transferred to Minnesota and will sit a year for the Golden Gophers, while redshirt sophomore big man Djery Baptiste left the team to concentrate on his studies at Vanderbilt, where he will graduate with an undergraduate degree in December and play at UMass beginning in January as a graduate transfer.
- Vanderbilt assistant coach Jake Diebler was named one of 30 assistant coaches to watch by The Athletic.
About USC
- USC enters the game with a 1-0 record after defeating Robert Morris in their season opener, 83-62, on Tuesday at Galen Center.
- Shaqquan Aaron led the Trojans in scoring with 20 points, while Nick Rakocevic tallied 18 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks in the win. Jonah Matthews and Kevin Porter, Jr. also added 15 points for USC.
- Sunday’s matchup is the back end of a home and home matchup. USC defeated Vanderbilt, 93-89, in overtime last season on November 19 at Memorial Gym.
- The Commodores will be playing their third game against USC in Los Angeles. The Trojans won the last two meetings between the two schools in LA, 108-89, on Dec. 6, 1969 and 98-93 on Dec. 20, 1974.
- USC leads the all-time series between the two schools, 5-1, with the first meeting coming in the 1965-66 campaign. The two teams have met four times in Nashville and two times in Los Angeles.
Darius Garland in Rarefied Air
Most Points by Freshman in Debut, SEC Since 2010-11
Tremont Waters, LSU, 27, 11/10/17 vs. Alcorn
Terrence Jones, UK, 25, 11/12/10 vs. EastTn
Darius Garland, VU, 24, 11/6/18 vs. Winthrop
Keldon Johnson, UK, 23, 11/6/18 vs. Duke
Frankie Hughes, Mizzou, 23, 11/13/16 vs. AlaA&M
Julius Randle, UK, 23, 11/8/13 vs. NC-Ash
Anthony Davis, UK, 23, 11/11/11 vs. Marist
Darius Garland is one of five major conference freshmen with 20+ Pts and 2+ Threes Made, Steals & Blocks in collegiate debut in the last 20 years (Since 1998-99).
Player Date, Opp Pts,3’s,Stls,Blocks
Darius Rice, Miami 11/18/00 vs Fla. At. 26,5,3,2
Kevin Durant, Texas 11/9/06 vs. Alcorn 20,3,3,2
Terrence Jones, UK 11/12/10 vs. ETSU 25,2,3,2
Ethan Thompson, Ore. St. 11/10/17 vs. So. Utah 20,2,2,3
Darius Garland, VU 11/6/18 vs. Winthrop 24,3,2,2
Home Openers
Vanderbilt’s record in home openers at Memorial Gym – the SEC’s oldest basketball facility is in its 67th season – is now 60-7 after the Commodores’ win over Winthrop. The Commodores have won 12 consecutive home openers, dating back to an 86-70 loss to Georgetown on November 15, 2006.
Three Commodores on NBA Rosters
Former Commodores Damian Jones, Luke Kornet, and Wade Baldwin IV are currently on NBA active rosters. Jones is averaging 15.7 minutes and 5.8 points per game with the Golden State Warriors this season and has won two championships with the team in his three seasons in the Bay Area. Kornet is averaging 3.3 minutes per game with the New York Knicks, and Baldwin is averaging 5.0 minutes per game with the Portland Trail Blazers.
NBA Pro Day
The Commodores held the program’s first NBA Pro Day on October 9 at Memorial Gym, with 29 of the NBA’s 30 teams represented and 54 total scouts in attendance.
Ryan, Wetzell return to action
Juniors Matt Ryan and Yanni Wetzell will return to action after sitting out last year due to NCAA transfer rules. Ryan, who comes to Vanderbilt from Notre Dame, played in two NCAA Tournaments and 72 total games with the Fighting Irish, while Wetzell averaged 13.6 points per game in two seasons at Division II St. Mary’s in Texas. Both have been good shooters from beyond-the-arc at their previous stops – Ryan is a career 39.8% from three, while Wetzell has made 42% of his attempts from downtown. Ryan knocked down four threes in his Vanderbilt debut against Winthrop on November 6.
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 715-706.
Against the Pac 12
The Commodores are 11-15 all time against the Pac 12. Vanderbilt will also face Pac 12 opponent Arizona State later this season at Memorial Gym on December 17.
