Vanderbilt men’s basketball will play their first of two consecutive road contests when the Commodores travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers on Saturday evening. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. CT 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 dropped to 9-11 overall and 0-7 in SEC play after an 87-52 defeat to Kentucky on Tuesday evening at Memorial Gym. Sophomore guard Saben Lee led the Commodores with 15 points, with freshman Aaron Nesmith adding 14 points and junior Matt Ryan 12 points.
Lee leads the Commodores in scoring with 13.5 points per game. In his last three contests against Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, Lee is averaging 20.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and five assists per game. He tied a career-high with 24 points at Oklahoma.
Vanderbilt and Missouri will only meet one time in the regular season. The Commodores have never won at Missouri.
Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters
- 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 will be the 67th SEC season in Memorial Gym for the Commodores.
- The Commodores enter the game as the 305th-most experienced team in the country according to KenPom.com. Vanderbilt’s leading top three leading scorers are two freshmen, Aaron Nesmith and Simisola Shittu, and sophomore Saben Lee.
- Nesmith leads the Commodors in SEC games only with 14.3 points per game. He also averages 5.0 rebounds per game against league opponents, and has scored in double figures in five of his last six games.
- Shittu is the league’s freshman leading rebounder with 7.3 rebounds per game in all games.
- Nine Commodores have scored in double figures in a game so far this season.
- Vanderbilt freshman guard Darius Garland declared for the NBA Draft on Jan. 22.
- Kentucky was the fifth ranked opponent for the Commodores this season – Vanderbilt is 1-4 against ranked teams. The Commodores lost to Kentucky twice and Mississippi State and defeated Arizona State on Dec. 17 at Memorial Gym. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak to ranked opponents, dating back to a 72-62 overtime win over 17th-ranked Florida at the 2017 SEC Tournament (3/10/17) at Bridgestone Arena. The Sun Devils went on to defeat Kansas later in the month.
- Vanderbilt’s average height is 78.5 inches (6 feet, 5 inches) and ranks 17th nationally according to KenPom.
- The Commodores have marched to the charity-stripe 498 times this season, which is second among SEC schools. Vanderbilt is fourth in the SEC with 340 free throw makes.
- Vanderbilt also ranks in the top five in the SEC in 3FG Attempts (4th, 466), Defensive rebounds per game (5th, 26.60), 3FG% Defense (4th, 32.1), and 3FG Made (5th, 7.8).
- Individually, Lee is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists per game (8th, 3.8), free throw attempts (2nd, 149) and free throws made (2nd, 104). Matt Ryan is ranked in 3FG attempts (7th, 125), total 3FG made (45), and 3FG made per game (7th, 2.25), while Shittu is ranked in defensive rebounds per game (6th, 5.6), double doubles (9th, 3), free throw attempts (6th, 103), rebounds per game (8th, 7.3), and total rebounds (8th, 145).
- Joe Toye scored in double figures in nine games this season. He is the team’s lone senior.
- Vanderbilt won their 800th career game at Memorial Gym against Arizona State on December 17. Memorial Gym, which opened in 1952, is the oldest basketball arena in the SEC.
- Vanderbilt won its first road game of the season at USC, the first time the Commodores have had a season-opening road win since a 72-70 win over St. Mary’s on November 20, 2009. VU is now 1-4 in true road games.
- 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 Plugerville, Texas who attends Hendrickson High School, each signed a letter of intent with the Commodores in November. Disu recently posted a 20-point, 20-rebound performance, and Crowley is ranked as the 55th prospect in the nation in the class of 2019 by 247sports.com following a breakout spring and summer.
About Missouri
Series Record: Series tied at six
Last Meeting: Mizzou win, 74-66, on 2/27/18 at Memorial Gym
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 5-1
Record at Missouri: MU leads, 5-0
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads, 1-0
Coach Drew vs. Missouri: Coach Drew is 0-3 against Missouri
- Missouri enters the game with a 10-9 overall record and a 1-6 mark in SEC play.
- Jordan Geist leads the Tigers with 13.8 points per game. Mark Smith (12.6) and Jeremiah Tilmon (10.4) also average double figures.
- The Commodores are 0-5 all time in games played at Missouri.
Vanderbilt (9-11, 0-7) vs. Missouri (10-9, 1-6)
Columbia, Mo. – Mizzou Arena – 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Dave Neal (pxp), Daymeon Fishback (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 382
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 Missouri, Vanderbilt will move to 1,052 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
Freshmen Leading the Charge
The Commodores are one of only four programs (Duke, UNC Asheville, Pittsburgh) 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 716-715.
