Jan. 5, 2012
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Auburn Gamenotes
Watch Coach Stallings meeting with the media previewing Auburn
Listen to Coach Stallings’ SEC Teleconference audio
The Commodores open their 78th season of Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Auburn to Memorial Gym. Tip-off is set for 12:47 p.m. CT, and the action can be seen live on the SEC Network and heard live on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network.
Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym will host its 60th conference opener, with the Commodores posting a 48-11 record in the previous 59 openers.
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 51-31.
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt won the last meeting, 77-60, in Auburn on Feb. 19, 2011.
Record at Vanderbilt: 46-16.
Record at Auburn: 32-29.
Record at Neutral Site: Auburn leads 6-3.
Coach Stallings vs. Auburn: Coach Stallings is 10-5 against Auburn.
Media Information
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com, XM 201
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
TV: SEC Network (see affiliates below)
TV Talent: Dave Baker (pxp), Joe Dean, Jr. (analyst)
Live Stream: ESPN3
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
More On The Auburn series
- Saturday’s meeting will be the 133rd of the career series, with Vanderbilt holding an 81-51 advantage. The Commodores have a 46-16 advantage in games played at Vanderbilt.
- The two teams have met every season since the 1946-47 campaign, and the first meeting came in the 1920-21 season.
- The Commodores have won five consecutive games in the series and five straight at Memorial Gym.
- Coach Stallings is 10-5 all-time against the Tigers.
More on Auburn
The Tigers are 10-4 on the season and recently lost their last time out at Florida State, 85-56, on Wednesday night. Kenny Gabriel leads the Tigers in scoring (12.6 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg), and blocked shots (2.9 bpg).
Quick Hitters
- Vanderbilt won their fourth consecutive game with a 69-62 victory over Miami (Ohio) on January 2 at Memorial Gym. John Jenkins led all scorers with 26 points, while Jeffery Taylor and Brad Tinsley added 11 points. The four game winning streak ties a season high.
- Festus Ezeli blocked four shots against the Redhawks, and is now the all-time career blocks leader at Vanderbilt with 159. He surpassed former Vanderbilt great Will Perdue, who had 157 in his career.
- The Commodores sport the leading scorer (John Jenkins, 20.5 ppg) and the third-leading scorer (Jeffery Taylor, 17.5 ppg) in the SEC. Jenkins also paces the league in three’s made at 3.9 per game.
- In the last five games, Jenkins and Taylor are averaging 19.4 and 19.2 points per game, respectively. Combined, the two are 71-130 from the floor (54.6%) and 29-62 from three (46.8%).
- Taylor is third in the SEC in field goal percentage (.537), and has made more field goals per game than any other player (6.8).
- The Commodores are 45-100 from three in their last three games – 45.0%, and an average of 11.3 threes per game in that span.
- Ezeli played his second consecutive game after sitting out the Lafayette and Longwood games recovering from a right knee injury that sidelined him for the first eight games of the season. He has now played in four games this season and is averaging 7.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game.
- Vanderbilt is the only team in the SEC that sports three 1,000-point scorers in John Jenkins, Jeffery Taylor, and Brad Tinsley.
- Jenkins now has scored in double figures in every game he’s played this season, and 62 times in his career. He has achieved the mark in 45 consecutive games played.
- The Commodores’ 88.2% (15-17) clip from the free throw line against Miami was a season-best.
- Vanderbilt won its first game this season when an opponent makes more threes vs. Miami (9-8).
Last Time Out – Vanderbilt 69, Miami (Ohio) 62
John Jenkins scored a game-high 26 points in a 69-62 win over Miami (Ohio) on January 2nd, his eighth 20+-point game of the season and 28th of his career. Jeffery Taylor and Brad Tinsley also added double figures for the Commodores with 11 points apiece.
- John Jenkins three-pointer to open the game extended Vanderbilt streak to 810 consecutive games with a made basket from beyond the arc.
- Brian Sullivan’s eight three-pointers made marked the first time Vandy allowed an opposing player to connect on eight threes since Josh Mayo of Illinois-Chicago on 12/3/2008.
- The 69 points scored was the second-lowest total in a Vanderbilt win this season – Vanderbilt scored 64 points in a win over Oregon State in the finals of the TicketCity Legends Classic in New Jersey.
- Vanderbilt held Miami to only one free throw attempt in the game. The last time VU held an opponent to five or less free throws was against Davidson on 1/2/2011.
- Vanderbilt was outrebounded 31-27 for the game. Monday’s win over Miami marked the first time this season the Commodores have won a game when an opponent outrebounds them.
- The Commodores’ 88.2% (15-17) clip from the free throw line was a season-best.
- Vanderbilt won its first game this season when an opponent makes more threes (9-8).
- VU led 27-24 at the break and are now 9-2 when leading at the half.
- Jenkins led Vanderbilt with 26 points. He now has scored in double figures in every game he’s played this season, and 62 times in his career. He has achieved the mark in 45 consecutive games played.
- Jenkins connected on five three pointers, extending his streak to 37 consecutive games with a trey. He has made three or more three-pointers in ten contests this year and 41 times in his career.
- Festus Ezeli tallied four blocks in the game, breaking the all-time record at Vanderbilt for blocks. He now has 159 in his career. The center added seven rebounds in the victory.
- Taylor and Tinsley added 11 points each, marking the 85th career double digit scoring game for the former, and the 54th for the latter.
- Lance Goulbourne added nine points and tied a career best with three blocks in the victory.
Jenkins Leads SEC in Scoring
Junior guard John Jenkins leads the SEC in scoring with 20.5 points per game, and in three pointers made with 3.9 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 9-10 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 1,561 career points. Taylor is also the SEC’s second-leading active rebounder with 626.
Ezeli Returns, Becomes VU Career Blocks Leader
Redshirt senior post man Festus Ezeli swatted away four Miami (Ohio) shots on January 2nd and became the school’s all-time blocks leader with 159 blocks and counting. Ezeli surpassed former Vanderbilt great Will Perdue’s all-time blocks record of 157. Ezeli set a new single-season blocks record in 2010-11 with 87 blocks.
Taylor, Jenkins Moving Up scoring Chart
Jeffery Taylor, who is averaging 17.5 points per game in his senior season, is now in the top 10 on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list with 1,561 career points. If he continues at the current pace, with 17 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.
Commodores on Television
Vanderbilt will appear on television 25 times in the regular season, with 17 slated for national broadcasts. The ‘Dores’ next television game will be January 7 against Auburn at 12:30 p.m. CT. In fact, after Monday’s game with Miami, VU has only one more game not scheduled for television (MTSU, Jan. 28).
SEC Network Affiliates
The following television stations will be airing the Commodores’ game with Auburn on Saturday.
Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Anniston, AL, WTTO, CW
Dothan, AL, GTVY, MNT
Huntsville-Decatur (Flor), AL, WZDX, FOX
Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt), AL, WJTC, IND
Montgomery (Selma), AL, WSFA, NBC
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs, AR, KHBS, ABC
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs, AR, KHOG, ABC
Washington, DC, Hagerstown, DC, WDCW, CW
Ft. Myers-Naples, FL, WXCW, CW
Gainesville, FL, WOGX, FOX
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL, WSFL, CW
Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbrn, FL, WOFL, FOX
Panama City, FL, WJHG-DT3, MNT
Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota, FL, WTTA, MNT
Albany, GA, WALB-D3, Bounce
Atlanta, GA, WPCH, IND
Augusta, GA, WRDW-DT2, MNT
Columbus, GA,WXTX, FOX
Macon, GA, WGXA, FOX
Savannah, GA, WTGS, FOX
Honolulu, HI, KFVE, MNT
Evansville, IN, WTVW, FOX
South Bend-Elkhart, IN, WHME, IND
Bowling Green, KY, WBKO, ABC
Lexington, KY, WYMT, CBS
Lexington, KY, WKYT, CBS
Louisville, KY, WAVE, NBC
Paducah-C. Girardeau-Harrbg-Mt VN, KY, WPSD-DT2, RTV
Greensboro-H. Point-W. Salem, NC, WCWG, CW
Charleston, SC, WMMP, MNT
Columbia, SC, WOLO, ABC
Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And, SC, WYCW, CW
Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC, WPDE, ABC
Chattanooga, TN, WFLI-DT, CW
Knoxville, TN, WVLT-DT, CBS
Nashville, TN, WUXP, MNT
Tri-Cities, TN-VA, TN, CW4, CW
Spokane, WA, SWX, S&W
Madison, WI, ETVW, MNT