March 6, 2009
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After knocking off then-SEC East leader South Carolina at home and the 2009 SEC regular season champion LSU on the road in their last two games, Vanderbilt heads into its regular season finale this Sunday against Arkansas as the winners of seven of its last 10 contests.
The game tips off at 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised live by Raycom Sports. The action can also be heard live on the Vanderbilt-ISP Radio Network and VUcommodores.com, with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on the call.
Arkansas and Vanderbilt will meet for the 23rd time on Sunday, with the Razorbacks holding a 15-7 advantage in the series. Arkansas has also won five consecutive games in the series, with the Commodores’ last win coming on Feb. 19, 2005, at Memorial Gym (79-65). Vanderbilt leads the series in Nashville, 6-4, and Commodore head coach Kevin Stallings has a 2-9 record against the Razorbacks since his arrival at Vanderbilt before the 1999-00 campaign.
Vanderbilt improved to 18-11 overall, 7-8 in SEC play, with a road win over LSU, 75-67, in Baton Rouge, La. Sophomore A.J. Ogilvy scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a dominating performance to lead the Commodores, while junior point guard Jermaine Beal added 17 points for Vanderbilt in the win.
Ogilvy’s 33-point performance propelled him past the 1,000-point mark in his career, becoming the first sophomore in the history of Vanderbilt basketball and the 39th player overall to accomplish the feat. He now has 1,006 points in his two-year career. The 33-point game also surpassed a career high for the 6’11 big man for the second consecutive game – he scored a then career-best 28 points against South Carolina on Feb. 28.
The Commodores shot 51.9 percent for the game (27-52), while LSU made only 36.2 percent of its shots (21-58) from the floor. In VU’s last two games, the Commodores are 58-102 (.569) from the field. The Commodores committed only eight turnovers against the Tigers, their lowest total in SEC play and their second lowest total of the season (Furman, Dec.22, six).
Ogilvy leads the Commodores in scoring on the 2008-09 season at 15.9 points per game. Beal adds 12.8 points per game, and Taylor chips in 11.9 points per contest. Tinsley also averages double digits with 10.6 points per contest. Ogilvy leads all VU players on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per game, and Taylor pulls down 6.1 rebounds per contest and is second on the team behind Ogilvy.
Arkansas enters the game with a 14-14 record and a 2-13 mark in SEC play. Michael Washington leads four Razorback players in double figures with 15.8 points per game. Other double digit scorers for Arkansas are Courtney Fortson (14.9), Rotnei Clark (12.1) and Stefan Welsh (11.9). Washington leads the team on the glass and is tied for the lead in the SEC in rebounding at 9.6 per game.
Vanderbilt has locked in the No. 5 seed in the SEC East heading into next week’s SEC Tournament in Tampa, Fla., but its opponent is still to be determined. The Commodores will play the No. 4 seed in the West at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. The winner will take on the No. 1 seed in the East (Tennessee) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Here are the West No. 4 seed scenarios:
Mississippi State would secure the West No. 4 seed if…
– Mississippi State loses to Ole Miss
Alabama would secure the West No. 4 seed if…
– Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State and Alabama wins at Tennessee, both teams would finish with 7-9 records
– Alabama swept the season series and would get the No. 4 seed
Ole Miss would secure the West No. 4 seed if…
– Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State and Alabama loses at Tennessee