Dec. 4, 2010
Vanderbilt 85, Belmont 76
December 4, 2010 – Memorial Gymnasium – Nashville, Tenn.
Attendance: 13,902
Starting Lineup
· Vanderbilt started sophomore John Jenkins, as well as juniors Jeffery Taylor and Brad Tinsley at guard…red-shirt juniors Festus Ezeli started at center while freshman Rod Odom started at forward…this is the first time Vanderbilt has used this starting lineup.
· Rod Odom is making his first-career start and his eighth appearance.
· Jeffery Taylor leads the team with 72 career starts…Brad Tinsley made his 63rd career start…Festus Ezeli appeared in his 69th game; including his 19th start…John Jenkins has made 15 starts and played in 39 games.
Postgame Notes:
· Vanderbilt recorded its 700th win in Memorial Gym.
· Vanderbilt won the opening tipoff and now moves to 6-0 when doing so.
· Vanderbilt has now made a three-pointer in 771 consecutive games, a streak that began in 1986, the first year of the three-point line.
· Kevin Stallings is now 4-0 all-time against Belmont.
· Festus Ezeli’s 24 points and 10 rebounds marked the first time a Commodore has recorded a 20-10 game since A.J. Ogilvy had 20 points and 12 rebounds against Alabama on February 5, 2009.
· Five Commodores scored in double-figures, the first time it has happened since Jeffery Taylor (18), A.J. Ogilvy (14), John Jenkins (13), Brad Tinsley (13), and Darshawn McClellan (11) did so against Arkansas on February 27, 2010.
· Vanderbilt’s 45 free throw attempts are the most in the Stallings era, breaking the previous high of 40 set against Kentucky on February 17, 2009 and Boston College on December 30, 2000.
· The Commodores shot a season-high 50.0% from the three-point line.
· Vanderbilt’s one blocked shot against them is the fewest an opponent has had this season.
· Vanderbilt has trailed at the half three times this season with this game being the first time trailing in Memorial Gym.
· The Commodores are now 2-1 when trailing at halftime.
· Vanderbilt is 5-0 when outrebounding opponents and has now pushed its rebounding margin in the four-game homestand to +15.5.
First-half notes:
· Vanderbilt won the opening tipoff and moved down the court where Jeffery Taylor made the first field goal attempt of the game.
· With 17:27 remaining, John Jenkins stole the ball and made a fast-break layup to give Vanderbilt a 6-3 lead.
· Trailing by one point, Festus Ezeli received the ball under the basket and put in a dunk to give Vanderbilt an 11-10 lead with 12:13 remaining.
· Lance Goulbourne made two free throws with 8:25 remaining to record the first points for the bench and tie the game at 19.
· With 4:49 left in the half, Festus Ezeli made the first Vanderbilt field goal since Brad Tinsley put in a layup with 11:02 remaining.
· Brad Tinsley made Vanderbilt’s first three-point bucket of the game with 2:55 remaining to keep the streak alive and cut Belmont’s lead to 30-26.
· Rod Odom recorded his first points of the game when he dropped in a three with 1:40 left in the half.
· Six Commodores recorded points while eight saw action…seven plays recorded rebounds as well.
· Jeffery Taylor led the team with eight points at the half.
· Festus Ezeli’s five rebounds led the team heading into half.
· Largest lead: Vanderbilt 5, Belmont 7
· Lead Changes: 5
· Ties: 3
· The Commodores head into half-time trailing 35-32.
Second-half notes:
· Festus Ezeli scored the first points of the second half off a jumper with 19:15 remaining.
· Lance Goulbourne hit a three-pointer with 18:51 remaining to give Vanderbilt a 37-55 lead, its first since leading 17-16 with 9:34 remaining in the first half.
· With 15:30 remaining, Rod Odom made his second three-point basket to give Vanderbilt a 47-40 lead.
· Brad Tinsley recorded six points in a two minute span going from 12:32 to 10:32 to give the Commodores a 57-51 lead.
· Jeffery Taylor stole the ball and went down the court to put in a dunk with 3:04 remaining to give Vanderbilt 73-60 lead.
· Largest lead: Vanderbilt 13, Belmont 1
· Lead Changes: 1
· Ties: 0
Player notes:
· Festus Ezeli had a career-high 24 points, topping his previous best of 18 set against Appalachian State on November 27.
· Ezeli’s 24 points and 10 rebounds mark his first-career 20-10 game.
· Ezeli’s 10 made free throws were a career-high, breaking his previous best of seven made against Grambling State on November 24.
· Festus Ezeli had a career-high four steals, breaking his previous high of one.
· Ezeli recorded his second-career double-double with the last one coming against Grambling State on November 24.
· Festus Ezeli has blocked a shot six consecutive games and seven total this season.
· Brad Tinsley and Jeffery Taylor have each recorded an assist in all eight games this season while Tinsley has recorded one in 18 consecutive games dating back to February 9, 2010 against Tennessee.
· Jeffery Taylor had a season-high eight rebounds, topping his previous high of seven set against North Carolina on November 21.
· Kyle Fuller’s two rebounds matched a career-high originally set against Presbyterian on November 12.
· Rod Odom is five-for-five from beyond the arc in the past two games.