Nov. 19, 2009
Buy Season Tickets | 
Live Webcast, Live Audio, & Live Stats | 
Twitter Updates | 
Gamenotes
The Commodores begin a four game road swing on Friday night at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, Calif., when VU takes on the Gaels of St. Mary’s. There will be no network television for the game, but there will be a webcast of the game on SMCGaels.com, St. Mary’s official website. The action can also be heard live on the Vanderbilt-ISP Radio Network and vucommodores.com, with Dave Lewis and Tim Thompson on the call. Tip off is at 10:30 p.m. Central time.
Vanderbilt opened its regular season on November 16 with a 95-73 win over Lipscomb at Memorial Gym. Sophomore forward Jeffery Taylor led four Commodore players in double figures with 20 points – Jermaine Beal added 17 points, A.J. Ogilvy tallied 13 points off the Commodore bench, and Brad Tinsley chipped in 10 points in the winning effort.
The Commodores converted on 58.9% of their shots against the Bisons (33-56), and scored 95 points, the most scored in an opening game since scoring 96 in a 96-61 victory over Liberty on Nov. 16, 2001. It is also the most points scored by Vanderbilt since posting 96 against South Carolina in a 96-83 win on Feb. 28, 2009.
This will be the first career meeting between the two schools. Head coach Kevin Stallings has a 1-0 record against the Gaels. It came in an 82-72 win December on 28, 1994, when he was the head coach at Illinois State. Vanderbilt assistant coach Dan Muller was a player on the team.
Vanderbilt will play the Gaels Friday and then travel to Maui to participate in the 2009 EA Sports Maui Invitational. The Commodores will take on Cincinnati on Monday in Maui, and play two more games on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Friday’s game with St. Mary’s will be a homecoming of sorts for Ogilvy. The reason: Ogilvy will play against five of his fellow country men – Jorden Page, Mitchell Young, Matthew Dellavedova, Clint Steindl, and Ben Allen. All five played at the Australian Institute of Sport, where Ogilvy played before his arrival at Vanderbilt. Additionally, three Vanderbilt players, Festus Ezeli, Charles Hinkle, and Darshawn McClellan, will return to their home state for Friday’s game. Ezeli, originally from Nigeria, spent the final few years of high school in the Sacramento area, Hinkle is from Los Alamitos, and McClellan is from Fresno.
St. Mary’s enters the game with a 2-0 record with wins over New Mexico State and San Diego State early in the season. The Gaels have five players that average double figures, with 6’0 guard junior guard Mickey McConnell and freshman guard Matthew Dellavedova leading the way at 18.0 points per game. Senior center Omar Samhan leads the team on the glass with 10.5 rebounds per contest.
Vanderbilt has a 3-0 all-time record against the WCC, with two wins coming over Portland and one coming against San Francisco. The last time VU played a WCC foe came on November 27, 1978, when the Commodores defeated San Francisco at Memorial Gym, 82-52.