Jan. 29, 2009
South Carolina 86 Vanderbilt 76
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, S.C.
Attendance: 12,766
– Vanderbilt started juniors Jermaine Beal and George Drake, redshirt freshman Festus Ezeli, and freshmen Jeffery Taylor and Steve Tchiengang. This marks the first time that Vanderbilt has used this starting line-up this season.
– Beal leads the team with 55 career starts, including 50 straight. Drake made his third start of the season and fourth of his career. Taylor made his 20th start of his career, while Ezeli started his fifth game of the season. Tchiengang made his seventh start of the season and his career.
– This was Drake’s first start since the Illinois game on Nov. 20, 2008.
First half notes – Vanderbilt 30 South Carolina 42
– Vanderbilt won the opening tip.
– With Brad Tinsley’s three-pointer at the 15:17 mark in the first half, Vanderbilt extended its streak of consecutive games (718) with a three-pointer, dating back to when the three-point line was established in the 1986-87 season. The Commodores streak ranks second only to UNLV (726) for the longest streak in Division I basketball. Vanderbilt, UNLV and Princeton (612) are the only three schools in college basketball to accomplish this feat.
– Jeffery Taylor led all scorers with 14 points in the first half. He was 5-for-6 in the opening stanza and added four rebounds.
– The Commodores shot 52.4% in the first half (11-21), but committed 15 turnovers against the Gamecocks. South Carolina shot an even 50% (14-28) and shot 55.6% (5-9) from beyond the arc. Vanderbilt was 1-for-5 from three-point land.
– Vanderbilt outrebounded South Carolina, 16-13, in the first half.
– 23 combined fouls were called in the first half. Both teams shot a combined 28 free throws.
Postgame Notes – Vanderbilt 76 South Carolina 86
– With the loss, the Commodores fall to 12-8 overall and 1-5 in SEC competition. Vanderbilt has lost four straight SEC contests.
– The Gamecock win snapped a three game Commodore winning streak at the Colonial Life Arena. Vanderbilt is now 3-4 all-time at the venue.
– South Carolina now leads the all-time series against Vanderbilt by one game, 22-21. The Gamecocks now lead 11-9 all-time in Columbia.
– Vanderbilt committed 22 turnovers against the Gamecocks, its largest total in SEC play and the second highest total this season (23 against VCU, 11/30). South Carolina outscored Vanderbilt 25-5 in points off of turnovers.
– The Commodores outrebounded South Carolina, 41-29, for the night. Vanderbilt outscored USC, 9-7, on second chance points. The Commodores have outrebounded 15 opponents so far this season.
– There were a total of 56 fouls called in the game, with Vanderbilt being whistled for 34 of them, a new season high. The previous high was 26 against MTSU on 11/24/08.
– Vanderbilt shot 31 free throws and converted on 21 of them (67.7%). The 31 free throw attempts was a season high. South Carolina shot a total of 49 free throws, and made 32 of them (65.3%). The 49 free throws attempted by USC was 18 more than the previous high (31 against Georgia Tech), and was the most for an opponent since Boston College attempted 40 free throws on December 30, 2000. Boston College won that game, 97-74, in Chestnut Hill.
– Three Vanderbilt players fouled out of the game against South Carolina – Festus Ezeli, A.J. Ogilvy, and Jeffery Taylor. It marked the first time since December 4, 2004, that three Commodore players fouled out of the game. Jason Holwerda, Julian Terrell, and Ted Skuchas fouled out against Oregon that night.
– The 76 points scored by Vanderbilt against the Gamecocks is the highest scoring total in an SEC game so far this season. The previous high was 69 against Florida on January 25.
– Vanderbilt had four players score in double figures – Jeffery Taylor (23), George Drake (18), Brad Tinsley (15), and Jermaine Beal (13).
– The Commodores’ starting backcourt (Drake and Beal) accounted for 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting (54.5%). Tinsley came off the bench for the first time in 17 games and added 15 on 5-of-12 shooting.
Individual Notes
– Jeffery Taylor led all scorers with 23 points, a new career high. Taylor’s previous career best was 18 points (Alabama A&M, at Miss. State). He also made a career-high nine free throws on a career-best 14 free throw attempts.
– George Drake set a new career high in scoring for the second time in three games with an 18 point effort against South Carolina. Drake scored 16 points against Tennessee on January 20 and led the team against Florida on January 25 with 14 points. He is averaging 16.0 points per game in the Commodores’ last three contests.
– Brad Tinsley’s 15 point game was his 13th double-digit game of the season, and his best effort since scoring 15 points against St. Francis on Dec. 31, 2008.
– Jermaine Beal has now gone for double digits in scoring in 15 games this season after his 13 point game against USC.
– Sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy scored a career-low three points on three made free throws, but he grabbed 11 rebounds in the game in 21 minutes of play. That was his highest single game rebound total since Dec. 16, 2008, when he grabbed 13 boards against South Florida.