Dec. 15, 2014
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Western Carolina Gamenotes
After a thrilling, 81-71 victory over Purdue on Saturday, the Commodores are right back at it on Tuesday night when they host Western Carolina out of the Southern Conference. The game will be televised on the SEC Network, and can be heard on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network throughout Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt is coming off of an excellent performance in their last time out in the win over Purdue, a game that saw the Commodores shoot 58.3% from the floor and 64.3% from three. Freshman Riley LaChance tallied a career-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the win, which propelled him to SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Sophomore big man Damian Jones, who leads the SEC in field goal percentage at 58.1%, added 15 points, and senior forward James Siakam scored 12 points off of the bench, his fifth consecutive game in double figures.
Game 9/Vanderbilt (6-2) vs. Western Carolina (3-6)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 8 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Dave Baker (pxp), Barry Booker (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: David Shumate (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 2-0.
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt win, 85-63, on 11/18/2000.
Record at Vanderbilt: 2-0
Record at Western Carolina: NA
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Stallings vs. W. Carolina: Coach Stallings has a 1-0 record all-time against Western Carolina.
About Western Carolina
Western Carolina enters the game with a 3-6 overall record after dropping their last game at Minnesota, 84-64, on December 5. James Sinclair leads the Catamounts in scoring (18.2), rebounding (5.7), and assists (3.7). Rhett Harrelson (16.6), Mike Brown (13.3), and Torrion Brummitt (10.4) also average double digits. This will be the third meeting between the two schools, with Vanderbilt holding a 2-0 series advantage.
Stallings now 7th on SEC All-Time Wins List
With the win over Purdue on Saturday, Coach Kevin Stallings is now in seventh place in all-time wins on the all-time winningest SEC coaches list with 298, surpassing Kentucky’s Joe B. Hall and Georgia’s Hugh Durham, who are each tied with 297 wins.
LaChance Wins Freshman of the Week
Freshman Riley LaChance poured in a career-high 26 points in Vanderbilt’s win over Purdue on Saturday and claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his performance. LaChance notched new career highs in field goals made (9), free throws made (5), and three pointers made (3), and scored the most points by a Commodore freshman since A.J. Ogilvy scored 27 points on March 13, 2008, in a first-round game of the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. LaChance is the 2nd-leading freshman scorer in the SEC at 12.0 points per game and leads all SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 1.8 per game.
Damian Jones leads Commodores
Sophomore post player Damian Jones is off to a great start to his sophomore campaign, averaging 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in eight early contests. Jones, a preseason All-SEC First Team selection by the league’s coaches, has scored 20+ points in four games this year and leads the SEC in field goal percentage (.581). Jones is 3rd in the SEC in scoring, 4th in rebounding, 5th in blocks (1.8), 5th in defensive rebounding (4.9/game), and 9th in offensive rebounding (2.6).
Vanderbilt among SEC leaders
The Commodores lead the SEC in FG% with 50.4%. VU is 2nd in assists (17.3) 3-Pt FG% (.401), and 3-Pt FG% defense (.292), and 3rd in assist/turnover margin (1.4). VU is 16th in the country in FG%.
Assists Numbers
Vanderbilt has 138 assists against only 102 turnovers early in the 2014-15 season, and has two players in the top six in the SEC in assists, with Wade Baldwin IV second (5.6) and Shelton Mitchell seventh (4.4). Vanderbilt is second in the league in assists (17.3/game). The Commodores have 138 assists on 204 made baskets, a 67.6% clip, the best in the SEC, and are 14th in the nation in assists per game with 17.3 per contest.
Baldwin Off To Fast Start
Guard Wade Baldwin IV won his first SEC Freshman of the Week honor for his performance in wins over Lipscomb and Tenn. State. The 6’3 guard from Belle Mead, N.J., averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 assists, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in the two Vanderbilt wins. He also posted 10 assists in the win over TSU. Baldwin is 2nd in the SEC in assists (5.6) and 3rd in A/TO ratio (3.2).
SEC’s Youngest Backcourt
The Commodores’ freshman backcourt is the youngest in the SEC. In fact, Vanderbilt is the only school in the league to start three freshmen at the three guard spots.
Luke Kornet: En Fuego
7’0 sophomore forward Luke Kornet had a career-high vs. Lipscomb, posting a career-high 24 points on 10-11 shooting from the floor, and is shooting 57.7% (15-26) from three on the year. He is seventh in 3’s made (1.9) in the SEC this year.
Siakam Coming On
Senior forward James Siakam has started to come on as of late, averaging 11.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in the last five games coming off the bench. For the season, the Douala, Cameroon, native is averaging 8.1 points and 5.12 rebounds per game, and is converting on 64.9% of his shots from the floor.
Three-Point Streak Still Intact
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 904 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank second only to UNLV for the longest streak in Division I basketball. Vanderbilt, UNLV and Princeton are the only three schools in college basketball to have made at least one 3-pointer in every game played since the 3-point line was implemented.
Frontcourt Height
Vanderbilt’s starting frontline of 7-0, 6-10 & 6-6 is the second tallest in the SEC in terms of average height. Kentucky – 82.3 inches; Vanderbilt – 81.3 inches; LSU – 81.3 inches
Coach Stallings in 16th Year
Head Coach Kevin Stallings, the school’s all-time winningest coach, is in his 16th season with the Commodores and 21st overall as a head coach. Stallings has 298 career wins at Vanderbilt and 421 overall as a head coach. He has seven 20-win seasons in the last 10 seasons, with six NCAA tournament appearances and two Sweet 16’s (2004 and 2007). Against Tennessee State earlier this year, he won his 200th career game at Memorial Gym.
Commodores vs. the Southern Conference
Vanderbilt has a 56-9 record all-time against the Southern Conference.