March 8, 2009
– With the win, Vanderbilt moves to 19-11 overall and 8-8 in SEC action. Arkansas drops to 14-15 and 2-14 in league play.
– The Commodores started junior Jermaine Beal, sophomore A.J. Ogilvy, and freshmen Jeffery Taylor, Steve Tchiengang, and Brad Tinsley. It was the 14th time Vanderbilt has used that starting lineup and have a record of 9-5. It is the eighth straight game Vanderbilt has used this starting lineup.
– Despite Vanderbilt’s win, Arkansas still leads the all-time series 15-8. Vanderbilt leads the series 7-4 in Nashville. The win ended Vanderbilt’s five-game win streak to Arkansas. It was Vanderbilt’s first win over Arkansas since Vanderbilt posted a 79-65 win on Feb. 19, 2005 in Nashville.
First half notes – Vanderbilt 39 Arkansas 35
– Arkansas won the tip
– Vanderbilt took a 5-0 lead to start the game. Leading 17-12, a Jermaine Beal three-pointer sparked a 7-2 run which gave Vanderbilt a 24-15 lead with 9:58 to play.
– Vanderbilt led 28-19 with 8:44 to play before Arkansas went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 30 with 3:35 to play.
– With the tie scored at 32, Vanderbilt scored seven of the last 10 points of the half to take a 39-35 lead.
– Jeffery Taylor, Jermaine Beal and Brad Tinsley led Vanderbilt at the half with eight points apiece.
– 33 of Vanderbilt’s 39 first-half points came from starters. Festus Ezeli scored all six bench points.
– Vanderbilt outrebounded Arkansas 24-13 in the first half.
– Vanderbilt made 13 of 15 free throws, while Arkansas attempted just four, making two.
– Vanderbilt made 45.8 percent of its shots, while Arkansas converted 38.9 percent of its shots.
– With Brad Tinsley’s 3-pointer at the 19:30 mark in the first half, the Commodores extended their streak for consecutive games with a three pointer to 727. VU has made a three-pointer in every game since the rule originated in the 1986-87 season. Only UNLV (736) has a longer streak than Vanderbilt.
– Vanderbilt’s lead at the half was its 17th of the season. The Commodores are 17-0 when leading at half this year.
– Six different Commodores scored in the first half.
– Vanderbilt’s largest lead was 10, 22-12, with 10:57 to play.
Second half notes
– Leading 42-41 with 17:14 to play, Vanderbilt went on a 9-3 run to extend its lead to seven, 51-44, with 12:46 to play.
– With 9:12 to play in the game a double technical foul was called on Vanderbilt Charles Hinkle and Arkansas’ Courtney Fortson.
– With 11:01 to play, Vanderbilt went on a 7-0 run to take a 58-47 lead with 7:21 to play. The 11-point advantage was Vanderbilt’s largest of the game to that point.
– During the 7-0 run, Arkansas went without a point for 6 minutes and 18 seconds (11:27-5:09). The drought ended when Michael Washington converted two free throws with 5:09 to play.
– During the same drought, Arkansas was held 6 minutes and 55 seconds without a field goal.
– Vanderbilt shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the floor in the half, while Arkansas shot just 18.8 percent (6 of 32).
– Vanderbilt won despite making only 1 of 2 three-point attempts in the half.
PostGame Notes
– It was Vanderbilt’s first win in a regular-season finale under Head Coach Kevin Stallings. Stallings was 0-9 in regular-season finale’s at Vanderbilt.
– Vanderbilt’s last win to close the regular season was Feb. 27, 1999 when the Commodores defeated Florida, 71-70 (OT), in Nashville.
– Vanderbilt closed the season by winning its final five games at Memorial Gym.
– Vanderbilt is now 1-3 this season in games televised on Raycom.
– Vanderbilt enters next week’s SEC Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the SEC East. Vanderbilt will face Alabama, the No.4 seed in the SEC West, on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT on Raycom.
– Vanderbilt made 48.0 percent of its shots (24 of 50), compared to just 29.8 percent (20 of 68) by Arkansas. Vanderbilt has now outshot its opponent in three straight games.
– Vanderbilt will enter the SEC Tournament on a three-game win streak for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
– Vanderbilt outrebounded Arkansas 49-31. It has now outrebounded its opponent in seven of the last eight games.
– Vanderbilt’s 49 rebounds were a season high.
– Vanderbilt won despite turning the ball over 19 times compared to just nine miscues by Arkansas.
– Vanderbilt matched a season high with eight blocks.
– Vanderbilt led wire-to-wire.
Individual Notes
– Jeffery Taylor led Vanderbilt with 16 points and 10 rebounds. It was his third double-double of the season and first since scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds at Kentucky on Jan. 10. Taylor also established a career high with six assists.
– Brad Tinsley connected on 3 of 4 three-point attempts and finished with 13 points. He has now hit at least three three-pointers in 12 games this season.
– A.J. Ogilvy added 12 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fourth double-double of the season and his second in a row. It marked the first time a VU player posted back-to-back double-doubles since Matt Freije did so during the 2003-04 season (1/28/04 USC and 1/31/04 UK)
– Ogilvy has now scored in double figures in 57 of 62 games as a collegian.
– It marked the first time Vanderbilt had two players record double-doubles in the same game since Taylor and Ogilvy did so against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 24.
– Jermaine Beal reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the 21st time this season.
– Festus Ezeli scored 10 points on 3 of 4 shooting. His career high is 11 points against Central Arkansas on Nov. 26.