Jan. 7, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | AP Photo Gallery 
Vanderbilt 65, Auburn 35
January 7, 2012 * Memorial Gymnasium – Nashville, TN
Attendance: 13,473
Starting Lineup:
- Vanderbilt: Senior Guard Brad Tinsley (#1), Junior Guard John Jenkins (#23), Senior Forwards Jeffery Taylor (#44), Lance Goulbourne (#5), Festus Ezeli (#3).
- Career Starts: Tinsley 104, Jenkins 53, Taylor 112, Goulbourne 35 Ezeli 47.
- This was the first time this season that Vanderbilt used this starting lineup.
Post-Game Notes:
- Vanderbilt moves to 82-31 in the all-time series against Auburn, and starts the SEC component of their season 1-0.
- Kevin Stallings is now 247-152 (13) at Vanderbilt, 370-215 (18) in his career, and 11-5 against Auburn.
- Vanderbilt held Auburn to 35 points–the lowest opponent point total in last few years. The last time Vandy held an opponent to 40 points or less was vs. Georgia (40) on Jan. 14, 2009.
- This marked the largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent since 93-52 victory over Kentucky on Feb. 12, 2008. Largest SEC win last year was 21 (90-69) at LSU (2/26/11).
- The `Dores held Auburn to 27.3% shooting from the field. The lowest opponent FG% on the season before this game was 32.2% by Marquette (12/29/11). The last time VU held a team to under 30% shooting from the field was vs. Davidson (29.3%) on Jan. 2, 2011.
- Auburn went 2-10 from the charity stripe, making it the first time a team has shot less than 50% from the line against Vanderbilt since Arkansas (45%) on Feb. 27, 2010.
- Vanderbilt outrebounded Auburn, 42-34, and moves to 10-1 on the season when doing so.
- Vanderbilt’s largest lead came at 4:19 in the second half and the final margin -30 points.
First-half Notes:
- The `Dores won the opening tip. They’re now 10-3 on the season when winning the tip, and have only lost the tip twice.
- The Commodores went on an unanswered 8-0 run in the first half to pull away early.
- Vanderbilt kept Auburn to the lowest-scoring first half by an opponent all season with only 19 points.
- VU was lights out from the floor in the opening period. The team went 12-24 for all field goals (50%) and was a staggering 56.3% from three-point range (56.3%).
- Taylor and Tinsley led the scoring charge for the `Dores in the first half with 10 points apiece.
Second-half Notes:
- The `Dores opened the second half with a 14-2 run.
- Vanderbilt held Auburn to only 7-27 from the floor in the second half (25.9%) and 20% from beyond the arc (1-5).
Individual Notes:
- Ezeli got his second starting nod this season. He led the team with a season-best eight rebounds, and added four points and a pair of blocks.
- Jenkins led the Commodores with 17 points in the win and has now connected on a three in 36 consecutive games. His 5-8 performance from beyond the arc, marked his fifth consecutive game making three or more three-pointers, his 10th this season, and 41st in his career.
- Jenkins has now scored in double figures in 44 consecutive games, and done so 63 times in his career.
- Tinsley added 12 points and a team-best six assists in the game. Now with 396career assists, Tinsley moved up to seventh on the all-time helpers list at Vanderbilt. He passed Drew Maddux, who tallied 394 assists from 1994-98.
- Taylor chipped in with 16 points on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the 14th time he scored in double figures this season, and the 86th time in his career. Vanderbilt is now 24-5 since the beginning of the 2010 season when Taylor scores at least 15 points.
- Goulbourne tied a career high with three steals in the win. He has now achieved the feat four times in his career, the last occurrence coming vs. Lafayette (12/21/11). He also added two blocks.
- Dai-Jon Parker’s two made threes tied a career-best – he also made two threes against Monmouth on Nov. 25.
