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MBB opens the New Year vs. Redhawks

Jan. 1, 2012

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After a road win over nationally ranked Marquette on Thursday, the Commodores return home Monday night to face the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks of the Mid-American Conference. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the action can be heard live on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network with a live stream of the game also available on vucommodores.com.

Vanderbilt’s 74-57 win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee, Wis., was its first against a ranked opponent this season, with the Commodores’ previous two games against ranked opponents resulting in overtime losses (Xavier, at Louisville). Jeffery Taylor led all scorers with 19 points.

5898761.jpegMonday’s game against the Redhawks will be the last game of the season for single-game sales. Tickets are available in the lower level Vanderbilt student section for $20 and can be purchased at vucommodores.com, through the McGugin Center Ticket Office at 615-322-GOLD, or at the Memorial Gym ticket window 90 minutes before tip time.

Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 3-1.
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt won the last meeting, 74-67, at Memorial Gym on Dec. 5, 1970.
Record at Vanderbilt: 2-1.
Record at Miami: 1-0.
Record at Neutral Site: NA.
Coach Stallings vs. Miami: Coach Stallings has never faced Miami.

Media Information
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
TV: No TV
Live Stream: vucommodores.com
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB

More On The Miami series

  • Monday’s meeting with the Redhawks will be the fifth in the overall series, and the first meeting since the 1970-71 campaign.
  • Coach Stallings has never faced the Redhawks.
  • Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference. The Commodores have a 12-1 career record against the MAC, with the only loss coming against Miami in the 1935-36 campaign.
  • Miami athletic director Brad Bates was a former Vanderbilt Associate Athletic Director and worked at VU for 17 years prior to his appointment at Miami in 2002.

More on Miami
The Redhawks enter the game Monday with a 4-7 overall record, are led in scoring and rebounding by Julian Mavunga, who averages 19.9 points and 10.4 rebounds.

Quick Hitters

  • Vanderbilt won their third consecutive game on December 29 with a 74-57 win over #14/13 Marquette at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Jeffery Taylor led all scorers with 19 points, John Jenkins scored 14 points, Lance Goulbourne added his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-best 16 rebounds, and Brad Tinsley chipped in 11 points in the win.
  • The win was the Commodores’ first against a ranked opponent this season, and it’s first win over a ranked opponent on the road since 2010 (Tennessee, January 27, 2010, 85-76). It also stopped a four-game losing streak against ranked opponents.
  • The Commodores held Marquette to only 32.1% from the floor, their best defensive performance of the season. The Golden Eagles only shot 21.2% in the first half.
  • The Commodores sport the leading scorer (John Jenkins, 20.1 ppg) and the third-leading scorer (Jeffery Taylor, 18.0 ppg) in the SEC. Jenkins also paces the league in three’s made at 3.8 per game.
  • Taylor has scored 20 or more points in three out of five games, and is averaging 23.0 points per game and is 46-74 from the floor in those games (62.6%).
  • Taylor is third in the SEC in field goal percentage (.542), and has made more field goals than any other player in the conference (90).
  • The Commodores are 37-82 from three in their last three games – 45.1%, and an average of 12.3 threes per game in that span.
  • Festus Ezeli returned to the floor vs. Marquette after a two-game absence and scored eight points and had seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Ezeli is three blocks away from becoming VU’s all-time blocks leader.
  • VU has won three consecutive games for the first time this season.
  • Vanderbilt is the only team in the SEC that sports three 1,000-point scorers in John Jenkins, Jeffery Taylor, and Brad Tinsley.

5898760.jpegTaylor, Jenkins Moving Up Scoring Chart
Jeffery Taylor, who is averaging 18.0 points per game in his senior season, is now in the top 10 on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list with 1,550 career points. If he continues at the current pace, with 18 regular season games remaining, would end up with 1,874 points, which would put him third on the all-time list. At his current scoring pace, Jenkins would end the regular season with 1,565 points, which would make him 10th all-time.

Jenkins Leads SEC in Scoring
Junior guard John Jenkins leads the SEC in scoring with 20.6 points per game, and in three pointers made with 3.8 per game.

As Jeffery Taylor Goes…
So do the Commodores. Since 2010-11, Vanderbilt is 23-5 in games in which Taylor scores 15 or more points, and 8-10 in games in which he fails to reach the 15-point barrier.

Taylor Is Active SEC Leading Scorer
Taylor is the active scoring leader in the SEC with 1,550 career points. Taylor is also the SEC’s second-leading active rebounder with 621.

Ezeli Returns, Three Blocks Shy Of Becoming VU Career Blocks Leader
After sitting out two games against Lafayette and Longwood to rest his knees, senior big man Festus Ezeli returned to action against Marquette and scored eight points and added seven rebounds. Ezeli is two blocks away from tying Will Perdue’s all-time blocks record (157). Ezeli set a new single-season blocks record in 2010-11 with 87 blocks.

Ezeli and Free Throws
One more reason that the Commodores missed center Festus Ezeli – of the returning players in college basketball, Ezeli was the seventh-leading player in the country in terms of getting fouled. Ezeli was 140-216 from the charity stripe last season (64.8%).

Goulbourne and The Boards
Senior forward Lance Goulbourne, who led the team a year ago with 7.3 rebounds per game, again paces the Commodores on the glass this season with 7.9 rebounds per contest. Goulbourne’s rebounding average, if he continues the pace for the rest of the season, would be VU’s best single-season total since Will Perdue averaged 10.1 rebounds per game in 1987-88.

Last Time Out – Vanderbilt 74, Marquette 57
Jeffery Taylor scored 19 points and led all scorers in leading the Commodores to a 74-57 victory over #14/13-ranked Marquette Thursday night in Milwaukee, Vanderbilt’s first win over a ranked opponent this season. Lance Goulbourne added 13 points and a season-high 16 rebounds, John Jenkins scored 14 points, and Brad Tinsley added 11 points and eight assists in the victory.

  • The Commodores defeated their first ranked opponent of the season with the victory and moved to 1-2 in 2011-12 against ranked opponents. It was also Vanderbilt’s first road win over a ranked opponent since January 27, 2010 (at Tennessee, W, 85-76).
  • The 17-point win was VU’s largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent since defeating Tennessee, 90-71, on Feb. 9, 2010, at Memorial Gym.
  • The road win moved Vanderbilt to 2-1 on the season in true road contests.
  • The Commodores held Marquette to only 32.1% from the floor, their best defensive performance of the season. The Golden Eagles only shot 21.2% in the first half.
  • VU was 10-22 from beyond-the-arc (45.5%) for the game, and held Marquette to 20% (3-15) from three.
  • The Commodores are 37-82 from three in their last three games – 45.1%, and an average of 12.3 threes per game in that span.
  • VU has now made 10 or more threes in six contests this season.
  • Vanderbilt outrebounded Marquette, 39-35, and are now 9-1 in games in which they outrebound their opponent. The Commodores outscored the Golden Eagles, 16-11, in second-chance points.
  • The Commodores’ largest lead of the game was 27, and it came at the 7:22 mark in the first half.
  • Vanderbilt trailed only one time, and it came at the 19:05 mark in the first half. The Commodores went on a 12-0 run to turn a 7-4 lead into 19-4, and then reeled off another 12 consecutive points after Marquette scored their 6th point (31-6).
  • The Commodores have won all but two opening tips this season.
  • Jeffery Taylor scored a game-high 19 points, the 11th consecutive double-digit scoring game for Taylor. Vanderbilt is now 23-5 in games since the beginning of 2010-11 when Taylor scores 15 or more points.
  • In his last five games, Taylor is averaging 23.0 points per game and is 46-74 from the floor in those games (62.6%).
  • John Jenkins extended his streak to 36 consecutive games with a 3FG and his 44th consecutive game in double figures. Jenkins scored 14 points and was 4-8 from beyond-the arc for the game.
  • Jenkins has made three or more threes in nine contests this year and 40 in his career.
  • Brad Tinsley scored in double figures with 11 points and had eight assists. He is averaging 9.0 assists in his last two games.
  • Lance Goulbourne scored 13 points, had 16 rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and three steals in the game. The 16 rebounds was one off of his career high, which he set last season at LSU.
  • Senior center Festus Ezeli returned to the floor after missing the last two games recovering from a sprained right knee. Ezeli played 17 minutes, scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.