Jan. 27, 2012
Vanderbilt Gamenotes | 
Stallings, players talk MTSU
The Commodores, winners of nine of their last 10, welcome current Sun Belt conference leader Middle Tennessee State, who are in the midst of a 12-game winning streak, to Memorial Gym Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Vanderbilt won its last time out in a 65-47 decision over Tennessee on Tuesday evening. Jeffery Taylor scored a game-high 23 points, while John Jenkins added 16 in the win.
Saturday’s meeting with the Blue Raiders will be the last non-conference game for the Commodores this season. Vanderbilt is 10-4 in non-conference games this year.
Series Information
Series Record: VU leads the all-time series, 28-4
Last Meeting: VU defeated MTSU in Murfreesboro, 72-53, 12/21/11.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 15-0.
Record at MTSU: VU leads 13-4.
Record at Neutral Site: NA.
Coach Stallings vs. MTSU: Coach Stallings is 3-0 against MTSU.
Media Information
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com, XM 85
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
TV: No TV
Live Stream: vucommodores.com (All Access)
Live Stats:
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
More On The MTSU Series
- Saturday’s meeting between the two schools will be the 33rd all-time. Vanderbilt leads 28-4 overall.
- The first meeting between the two schools came in the 1913-14 season in Murfreesboro.
- Saturday’s meeting is the fourth in a five-game series. Two previous games were played in Memorial Gym, one last year at the Murphy Center, and one next season at Bridgestone Arena.
- Coach Stallings is 3-0 all-time against the Blue Raiders and 2-0 in games played at Memorial Gym.
More On Middle Tennessee
The Blue Raiders are having one of their best seasons in recent memory and have won 12 games in a row, with their last loss coming at UAB on December 7 (56-66). LaRon Dendy leads MTSU in scoring and rebounding with 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Quick Hitters
- The Commodores moved to 5-1 in the SEC after the win over Tennessee.
- Vanderbilt is now 5-1 in games with their preseason initial starting lineup of Jenkins, Taylor, Lance Goulbourne, Festus Ezeli, and Brad Tinsley.
- In SEC play, Vanderbilt is outscoring opponents by an average of 13.0 points and shooting 46.9% from the floor and 47.3% from three.
- Four of Vanderbilt’s starters are hovering around 50% from the floor for the season – Jenkins (47.8%), Taylor (54.2%), Tinsley (49.3%), and Goulbourne (48.9%).
- The Commodores sport the leading scorer in all games (John Jenkins, 19.6 ppg) and the third-leading scorer (Jeffery Taylor, 17.4 ppg) in the SEC. Jenkins also paces the league and nation in three’s made at 3.9 per game.
- Jenkins has scored in double-digit figures in 53 consecutive games, 72 in his career.
- Vanderbilt’s 40.7% from three this season would be the sixth-best in school history and best since the 1992-93 season (41.2%).
- In the last two seasons, VU has defended well from beyond-the-arc – opponents are only shooting 31.7% since the beginning of the 2010 season (317-999).
- Taylor paces the SEC in league games only in 3FG % at 68.2% (15-22).
- In SEC play, the Commodores rank first in five different categories – scoring defense (57.0), scoring margin (+13.0), field goal percentage defense (.365), 3-point field goal percentage (.473), and threes made (10.2).
- VU’s starting five has amassed 376 career starts.
- Taylor is fourth in the SEC in field goal percentage (.542), and has made more field goals than any other player in the SEC (128). Taylor also leads the league in 3-point FG percentage in SEC games only at 68.2%.
- Jeffery Taylor (128) and John Jenkins (122) lead the league in field goals made for the season.
- Vanderbilt is the only team in the SEC that sports three 1,000-point scorers in John Jenkins, Jeffery Taylor, and Brad Tinsley.
- Jenkins leads the league in all games in scoring (19.6), 3-point FG% (44.8%), threes made (3.9), and free throw percentage (85.9%). In league games only, Jenkins is tied for the league lead in scoring (17.7), and is first in threes made (3.8) and free throw percentage (1.00).
- In league games only, Tinsley leads the league in assists (5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8).
- With the win over Alabama, the Commodores are now 12-6 in road SEC contests since the 2009-10 campaign (6-2 in 2009-10, 4-4 in 2010-11, 2-0 in 2011-12). The 12 wins is the most in the SEC.
- Vanderbilt allowed only 47 Tennessee points on Tuesday night, the lowest in the series for the Volunteers since scoring 46 in a 46-32 win over VU at the 1946 SEC Tournament in Louisville.
`Dores Moving UP All-Time Lists
Vanderbilt current players and Vanderbilt’s all-time lists:
Player, Category, Position
Jeffery Taylor, Scoring, 9th (1,663)
Jeffery Taylor, Steals, 10th (131)
Jeffery Taylor, Free Throws Made, 7th (413)
Jeffery Taylor, Free Throws Att., 4th (584)
Jeffery Taylor, Rebounding, 10th (667)
John Jenkins, Scoring , 20th (1,337)
John Jenkins, 3’s Made, t-6th (246)
John Jenkins, 3’s Attempted, t-7th (559)
John Jenkins, 3FG %, 3rd (.440)
John Jenkins, FT%, 3rd (.867)
Brad Tinsley, Scoring, 35th (1,121)
Brad Tinsley, FT%, t-8th (.831)
Brad Tinsley, Assists, t-5th (423)
Brad Tinsley, Assists/game, 5th (3.58)
Festus Ezeli, Blocks, 1st (174)
Festus Ezeli, Blocks/game, 1st (1.66)