MTSU awaits MBB at Bridgestone

Dec. 20, 2012

Vanderbilt Gamenotes Get Acrobat Reader | MTSU Gamenotes Get Acrobat Reader

Vanderbilt men’s basketball will play its final contest before the holiday break when the team travels a few miles down West End Avenue to Bridgestone Arena to take on Middle Tennessee State for an 8 p.m. tip off. The game will be televised on ESPNU, and the game can be heard live on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network in the middle Tennessee area and online at vucommodores.com.

Game 10/VANDERBILT (5-4) vs. MTSU (8-3)
Friday, December 21 – 8 p.m. CST
Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena (20,000)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 106, XM 199
TV: ESPNU
Radio Talent: Rich Hollenberg (pxp), Carolyn Peck (analyst)
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB

Series Information
Series Record: VU leads 29-4.
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt won the last meeting, 84-77, on 1/28/12.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 16-0.
Record at MTSU: VU leads 13-4
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Stallings vs. MTSU: Coach Stallings is 4-0 vs. MTSU.

About MTSU

  • MTSU enters the game with an 8-3 overall mark after defeating Tennessee State, 77-48, Tuesday night at the Murphy Center.
  • Marcos Knight leads the Blue Raiders with a 12.5 ppg scoring average. Shawn Jones also averages double figures (10.0).
  • Friday’s matchup is the last of a five-game series with the Blue Raiders, and the first against MTSU on a neutral floor. All 33 of the previous meetings have come on campus sites.
  • Vanderbilt has a 49-15 all-time record against current members of the Sun Belt Conference.

Inexperience vs. Experience

Vanderbilt’s ranking among the 347 Division I basketball playing schools in terms of experience on the roster by kenpom.com. Meanwhile, MTSU is ranked second. Vanderbilt has no seniors and only two juniors on this year’s roster.

Vanderbilt’s Record At Bridgestone Arena

Vanderbilt’s all-time record at the downtown Nashville arena, now known as Bridgestone Arena. Vanderbilt is 4-4 all-time at the downtown Nashville facility, with wins over Western Kentucky (80-75, 12/2/01) and South Florida (71-52, 12/16/08), and one loss to Western Kentucky (69-76, 12/11/09) on neutral floors, and two wins (Auburn, 76-71, 3/9/06; Georgia, 78-66, 3/12/10) and three losses (59-78, 3/8/01; 73-92, LSU, 3/10/06; 52-62, 3/13/10) at the SEC Tournament. The 2013 SEC Tournament will also be played there March 13-17.

‘Dores Three-Point Streak Still Intact

Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 841 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank second only to UNLV 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.

Vanderbilt Is Undefeated When…

When the Commodores outrebound their opponent (4-0), outshoot their opponent (4-0), and score 70 points or more (3-0).

Kedren Johnson Ranks In Several SEC Categories

Sophomore point guard Kedren Johnson is in the top 10 in the SEC in several categories, including:

Scoring – 3rd (17.0)
FG% – 8th (.491)
3FG% – 3rd (.418)
3FG Made – 4th (2.6)
Min. Played – 2nd (34.6)

Dai-Jon Parker Returns

Sophomore guard Dai-Jon Parker returned from an eight-game suspension against Cornell and played a career-high 28 minutes. He scored two points in his return.

Guards Logging Heavy Minutes

Both starting guards, Kyle Fuller and Kedren Johnson, are 1-2 in the SEC in minutes played, with Fuller playing an average of 35.3 minutes per game, while Johnson is logging 34.6 minutes per contest.