Dec. 2, 2008
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Live Audio | Season Stats | Game Notes 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt returns to action at Memorial Gym on Wednesday night when the Commodores host the UIC Flames of the Horizon League. The game can be heard live on the Vanderbilt/ISP Network with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on the call. The game will not be televised.
The Commodores are fresh off of a Cancun Challenge Tournament Championship, which happened over the weekend at the Moon Palace in Cancun, Mexico, after Vanderbilt defeated Drake, 72-57, and VCU, 71-66.
It marked the second consecutive Thanksgiving-time tournament championship for VU – the Commodores captured the South Padre Invitational in November of 2007. VU went 4-0 in their 2008 tournament, with home wins coming against Morehead State and Central Arkansas earlier in November.
Vanderbilt led by as many as 18 points in the finals against VCU on Sunday, but the Rams made the game close in the second half after forcing the Commodores into 15 turnovers.
VCU cut the Commodore lead to one on two occasions, but both times, Vanderbilt responded with runs of their own. Clutch free throw shooting was key for VU, making 26-of-30 (86.7 percent) against the Rams, and 40-of-47 (85.1 percent) for the two-day tournament.
Sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy was named the MVP of the tournament after a 25-point, seven rebound effort against VCU on Sunday, the 12th 20-plus point game of his career.
Jermaine Beal, who was also named to the all-tournament team, added 14 points, while freshmen Brad Tinsley (13) and Jeffery Taylor (10) added double figures as well. The four Vanderbilt players in double figures marked the fourth consecutive game that has happened.
Ogilvy now leads all Vanderbilt scorers at 15.3 points per game. Taylor averages 13.5 per contest, Tinsley adds 12.7, and Beal chips in 11.3 points per game. Three of the five leading scorers on this year’s team are freshmen, with 6-7 forward Taylor leading the way at 13.5 points per game.
Tinsley, a 6-3 freshman guard, averages 12.7 points per contest, and 6-7 forward Lance Goulbourne added 11 points in his first game against Morehead State. Goulbourne, who was diagnosed with mononucleosis on Nov. 19, missed the Illinois game and is out for a month.
Taylor and Tinsley have scored in double digits in every game of their college careers, and Tinsley ranks 17th overall in the nation and is the top freshman in the country in 3-point shooting percentage at 52.9 percent.
Vanderbilt played without four key players over the weekend because of varying circumstances. Sophomore Andre Walker is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered Nov. 24, against Middle Tennessee State.
Redshirt freshman Festus Ezeli missed Cancun because of family matters, true freshman Steve Tchiengang finished serving an NCAA mandated suspension, and Goulbourne is out until mid-December. Ezeli and Tchiengang are expected to return to the floor Wednesday night against the Flames.
So far this season, the Commodores have had eight players score in double figures, and three (Ogilvy, Taylor, Tinsley) who have scored in double figures in every game thus far. In the team’s last four games, Vanderbilt has had at least four players score in double figures in each game.
Kevin Stallings, VU head coach, is also quickly approaching the 300 victory mark in his 16-year head coaching career. He now has has 298 career wins after two wins in Cancun, and 175 in his 10-year career at Vanderbilt. Stallings ranks third all-time in Vanderbilt coaching wins behind Roy Skinner (278; 1959, 1962-76) and Bob Polk (197; 1948-58, 1960-61).
Tip-off time for Wednesday’s contest is set for 7 p.m.