Jan. 16, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Mississippi State Gamenotes
The Commodores return to the floor this Saturday afternoon when they travel to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State and Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be televised on FSN, and can be heard on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network throughout Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt dropped their last time out on Wednesday at home against Georgia, 70-67, which dropped their record to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in league play. Riley LaChance led the Commodores with 21 points, his 12th double-digit and third 20+ point game of the season. Georgia ended a nine-game losing streak in the series dating back to 2010 and a seven-game losing streak at Memorial Gym, dating back to 2006, in a game in which Vanderbilt never led. The Commodores shot 41.1% from the field (23-56), 33.3% (9-27) from behind the arc, and 66.7% (12-18) from the charity stripe, while Georgia shot 48.9% from the field, 58.8% from the three, and 66.7% from the FT line. The Bulldogs’ three-point percentage was the best by a Vanderbilt opponent all season.
Game 17/Vanderbilt (11-5, 1-2 SEC) vs. Mississippi State (7-9, 0-3 SEC)
Starkville, Miss. – Humphrey Coliseum – 3 p.m. CT
TV: FSN
TV Talent: Dave Baker (pxp), Larry Conley (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 93, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 76-46.
Last Meeting: MSU win, 82-68, on 3/12/14 in opening round of SEC Tournament in Atlanta.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 44-9.
Record at Miss. St.: MSU leads, 31-24.
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads, 8-6.
Coach Stallings vs. MSU: Coach Stallings is 10-10 vs. Miss. State.
About Mississippi State
Mississippi State enters the game with a 7-9 overall record and a 0-3 mark in league play. Fred Thomas and Roquez Johnson each lead the team in scoring, with each averaging 10.4 points per game. Mississippi State leads the overall series between the two schools, 31-24, in Starkville, although the Commodores have won the last two meetings. Vanderbilt will face Mississippi State twice this season, with the next meeting with the Bulldogs set for March 4 in Nashville. VU will play the Bulldogs, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama twice this season.
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 13.4 points per game, is second among SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 2.0 per game, which is sixth in the conference overall, and is third in the SEC overall in 3-point field goal percentage (.413). He 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 13.4 ppg, while Shelton Mitchell leads all freshmen in assists with 4.4 per contest. Wade Baldwin IV is second among freshmen in assists with 4.2 per game.
Damian Jones leads Commodores
Sophomore post player Damian Jones is having a stellar sophomore campaign, averaging 15.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in the first 16 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 (.538), sixth in the SEC in scoring, sixth in rebounding, T-5th in blocks (1.8), and 6th in defensive rebounding (4.6/game).
Vanderbilt among SEC leaders
The Commodores lead the SEC in FG% with 49.5%, and have shot 50% or better in eight games this year. VU is also 2nd in 3-Pt FG% (.385) and 4th in assists (15.9).
High Conversion Rate
The Commodores are the most efficient team in the league, shooting 49.5% from the field, and are only attempting an average of 50.0 attempts per game, the second-least in the SEC. Arkansas leads the league with 63.3 attempts per game.
Assists Numbers
Vanderbilt has 254 assists against only 227 turnovers in the 2014-15 season, and has two players in the top six in assists, with Shelton Mitchell fourth at 4.4 apg and Wade Baldwin tied for sixth with 4.2. Vanderbilt is fourth in the league in assists (15.9/game). The Commodores have 254 assists on 396 made baskets, a 64.1% clip, the best in the SEC and the ninth-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 921 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 678-669 against the current members of the SEC.