Jan. 9, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Arkansas Gamenotes
The Commodores travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for their first road SEC game of the season this Saturday when they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. The game will be televised on the SEC Network, and can be heard on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network throughout Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt won its SEC opener on Tuesday night against Auburn at Memorial Gym, 64-52, behind four Commodore players in double figures and a defensive effort which limited the Tigers to 30.5% from the floor. Senior James Siakam was Vanderbilt’s scoring and rebounding leader, tallying his fourth career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes of action. Riley LaChance added 13 points, Damian Jones scored 11, and Shelton Mitchell added 10 points in the Commodore win.
Game 15/Vanderbilt (11-3, 1-0 SEC) vs. #23 Arkansas (12-2, 1-0 SEC)
Fayetteville, Ark. – Bud Walton Arena – 3:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Dave Neal (pxp), Darrin Horn (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 108, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Arkansas leads, 19-11.
Last Meeting: Ark. win, 77-75, on 2/8/14 at Memorial Gym.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 8-6.
Record at Arkansas: Ark. leads, 10-2.
Record at Neutral Site: Ark. leads, 3-1.
Coach Stallings vs. Arkansas: Coach Stallings is 6-13 vs. Arkansas.
About Arkansas
Arkansas enters the game with a 12-2 overall record and a 1-0 mark in league play after a 79-75 win at Georgia on Tuesday, and is ranked as the 23rd-best team in the county according to the Associated Press. Arkansas leads the all-time series between the two schools, 19-11, and is 10-2 in games played in Fayetteville. Coach Stallings is 1-7 against the Razorbacks on the road, with the only win coming in the 2009-10 season. Bobby Portis leads the Razorbacks in scoring (17.1) and rebounding (7.6). Michael Qualls also averages double-digits (15.5).
Stallings wins 300 vs. Penn, now has 303 Vanderbilt wins
Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings won his 300th game at Vanderbilt against Penn, becoming one of five SEC coaches to win 300 or more games at one institution, joining Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp, Florida’s Billy Donovan, and LSU’s Dale Brown and Harry Rabenhorst.
LaChance leads all SEC Freshmen
Freshman Riley LaChance is the leading freshman scorer in the SEC at 13.1 points per game, leads all SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 2.1 per game, which is fourth in the conference overall, and is second in the SEC overall in 3-point field goal percentage (.426). He recently won his second SEC Freshman of the Week award after averaging 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in wins over St. Louis and Yale. Earlier this year, he poured in a career-high 26 points in Vanderbilt’s win over Purdue on December 13 and then followed with another 26-point game against Western Carolina. It was the most points scored 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, and the first time a Commodore has scored 25 or more points in consecutive games since John Jenkins scored 26 at Ole Miss (2/16/12) and 28 at Georgia (2/19/12).
Freshmen Leaders
Riley LaChance leads all SEC freshmen in scoring at 13.1 ppg, while Shelton Mitchell leads all freshmen in assists with 4.9 per contest. Wade Baldwin IV is third among freshmen in assists with 4.3 per game.
Damian Jones leads Commodores
Sophomore post player Damian Jones is off to a great start to his sophomore campaign, averaging 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in the first 14 contests. Jones, a preseason All-SEC First Team selection by the league’s coaches, has scored 20+ points in four games this year and is second in the SEC in field goal percentage (.551), fifth in the SEC in scoring, 6th in rebounding, 4th in blocks (1.9), and 6th in defensive rebounding (4.9/game).
Vanderbilt among SEC leaders
The Commodores lead the SEC in FG% with 50.0%, and have shot 50% or better in seven games this year. VU is also 2nd in 3-Pt FG% (.389) and 4th in assists (16.1). The Commodores are 10th in the country in FG%.
High Conversion Rate
The Commodores are the most efficient team in the league, shooting 50.0% from the field, and are only attempting an average of 49.6 attempts per game, the second-least in the SEC. Arkansas leads the league with 63.6 attempts per game.
Assists Numbers
Vanderbilt has 226 assists against only 194 turnovers in the 2014-15 season, and has two players in the top six in assists, with Shelton Mitchell third at 4.9 apg and Wade Baldwin tied for sixth with 4.2. Vanderbilt is fourth in the league in assists (16.1/game). The Commodores have 226 assists on 347 made baskets, a 65.1% clip, the best in the SEC and the fifth-best in the nation.
Assist to Turnovers
The Commodores are on track to post their first positive assist-to-turnover ratio in a season since the 2010-11 season (454 assists, 441 turnovers that year).
Free Throws Galore
The Commodores made 38 of 43 free throws against Western Carolina, and was 22-22 at the charity stripe in the second half. It was the most made free throws in a game since Vanderbilt tied a school record with 40 against Kentucky on February 20, 1991.
Double Your Pleasure
The Commodores won a 79-74 double overtime affair against Yale in its last time out, Vanderbilt’s first double overtime game since a 79-73 loss at Kentucky on January 12, 2008. Shelton Mitchell played a career-high 46 minutes Saturday, the most by a Vanderbilt player since that game at Kentucky, when Alex Gordon played 46 minutes and Shan Foster logged 47 minutes.
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.
Young Commodores
According to KenPom.com, Vanderbilt is number 348 out of 351 Division I playing schools in terms of experience at 0.72 years. The average years of experience across the 351 schools is 1.67 years.
Three-Point Streak Still Intact
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 910 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.
Commodores vs. the SEC
Vanderbilt has a 678-667 against the current members of the SEC.