Vanderbilt Returns Home to Play Kentucky

Vanderbilt men’s basketball will take on their third ranked opponent in four games when the Commodores welcome Kentucky to Memorial Gym for a Tuesday night tip off. The game will begin at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN. 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 fell to 9-10 on the season after dropping an 86-55 decision to Oklahoma Saturday afternoon in Norman in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.  Sophomore guard Saben Lee tied his career high with 24 points for the Commodores.

Lee leads the Commodores in scoring with 13.4 points per game.  In his last two contests against Tennessee and Oklahoma, Lee is averaging 22.5 points, six rebounds, and five assists per game.

This will be the second meeting between the two schools this season.  The Wildcats won 56-47 on January 12 in Lexington.

Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters

  • Vanderbilt fell to 9-10 on the season after dropping an 86-55 decision to Oklahoma Saturday afternoon in Norman in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.  Sophomore guard Saben Lee tied his career high with 24 points for the Commodores.
  • Lee leads the Commodores in scoring with 13.4 points per game.  In his last two contests against Tennessee and Oklahoma, Lee is averaging 22.5 points, six rebounds, and five assists 
  • This will be the second meeting between the two schools this season.  The Wildcats won 56-47 on January 12 in Lexington.
  • 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 5.3 rebounds per game against league opponents.
  • Shittu is the league’s freshman leading rebounder.
  • 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 will be the fifth ranked opponent for the Commodores this season – Vanderbilt is 1-3 against ranked teams.  The Commodores lost to Kentucky 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 468 times this season, which is first among SEC schools.  Vanderbilt is third in the SEC with 323 free throw makes.
  • Vanderbilt also ranks in the top five in the SEC in 3FG Attempts (4th, 421), Defensive rebounds per game (3rd, 27.11), Fewest Turnovers (3rd, 234), 3FG% Defense (1st, 31.0), 3FG Made (5th, 7.9), and Turnovers per game (3rd, 13.0).
  • Individually, Lee is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (9th, 1.6), assists per game (8th, 3.7), free throw attempts (2nd, 136) and free throws made (2nd, 94).  Ryan is ranked in 3FG attempts (7th, 111) and 3FG made (7th, 2.22), while Shittu is ranked in defensive rebounds per game (5th, 5.72), double doubles (9th, 3), free throw attempts (6th, 100), free throws made (10th, 63), rebounds per game (8th, 7.5), and total rebounds (7th, 135).
  • Joe Toye scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time of his four-year career in the first three games of the 2018-19 season and has double-digit points 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.
  • 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 Kentucky
Series Record: 
UK leads, 145-47.
Last Meeting:  UK win, 56-47 on 1/12/19 in Lexington.
Record at Vanderbilt:  UK leads 54-27.
Record at Kentucky:  UK leads 86-15.
Record at Neutral Site:  Tied at 5.
Coach Drew vs. Kentucky:  Coach Drew is 0-5 against Kentucky.

  • Kentucky enters the game ranked as the seventh (AP) team in the country.  The Wildcats have an overall record of 16-3 and an SEC mark of 5-1.
  • Freshman Keldon Johnson leads the Wildcats in scoring with 14.6 points per game.  Tyler Herro (13.3), Reid Travis (12.8), and P.J. Washington (12.7) also average double digits.
  • This will be the 193rd meeting between the two schools, with Kentucky holding a 145-47 advantage in the series.  The Wildcats are 54-27 all-time against the Commodores in games played at Vanderbilt.  The Wildcats are the Commodores’ second-most played all-time opponent (Tennessee first, 196 career meetings).    
  • Vanderbilt is 15-88 all-time against a ranked Kentucky team and 14-27 against ranked Wildcat teams in Nashville.
  • Kentucky has won five straight games in the series.  Vanderbilt’s last win came at Memorial Gym on February 27, 2016 (74-62).  Kentucky was ranked #16 in the Associated Press poll in that contest.

Vanderbilt (9-10, 0-6) vs. #7/6 Kentucky (16-3, 5-1)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 8 p.m. CT
TV:
ESPN
TV Talent: Karl Ravech (pxp), Jimmy Dykes (analyst), Kris Budden (sidelines)
Radio:  Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio:  Sirius 121, XM 190
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 Kentucky, Vanderbilt will move to 1,051 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 716-714.