Jan. 19, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Kentucky Gamenotes
The Commodores’ road trips continue this Tuesday when Vanderbilt heads to number one Kentucky for an 8 p.m. CT tip off at Rupp 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 fell to 11-6 overall and 1-3 in SEC play with a 57-54 road loss to Mississippi State in Starkville on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Damian Jones scored 21 points, his fifth 20+-point game of his career, to lead the Commodores. He also had a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman Riley LaChance also scored in double figures with 12 points, and Wade Baldwin IV had seven assists and four steals to go along with two points. The four steals ties a career-high he set against Georgia in Vanderbilt’s previous game and he now has eight steals in the last two games. Vanderbilt’s 54 points was a season-low, as was its 38.5% shooting percentage. Saturday was the first time all season the Commodores have shot lower than 40%.
Game 18/Vanderbilt (11-6, 1-3 SEC) vs. #1 Kentucky (17-0, 4-0 SEC)
Lexington, Ky. – Rupp Arena – 8 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 91, XM 91
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Kentucky leads the all-time series, 139-46.
Last Meeting: UK win, 72-61, 1/11/14 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: UK leads, 42-24.
Record at UK: UK leads, 60-7.
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads, 5-3.
Coach Stallings vs. Kentucky: Coach Stallings is 11-21 against Kentucky.
About Kentucky
Kentucky enters the game as the number one team in the country and a 17-0 overall mark and a 4-0 record in league play. Aaron Harrison is the team’s leading scorer with 11.4 points per game. The two teams will meet for the 186th time on Tuesday, with the Wildcats holding a 139-46 series lead. Kentucky is 60-7 all-time against Vanderbilt in Lexington. This will the second consecutive season the two teams will meet only once, only the 2nd time there will not be a home-and-home matchup since 1947-48. Both teams had met on each other’s home court for every season since the 1953-54 campaign prior to last season. Vanderbilt has lost six straight at Rupp, dating back to Jan. 20, 2007, when VU defeated UK, 72-67. The Commodores won in back-to-back seasons there in 2006 and 2007.
The Commodores vs. Number Ones
Vanderbilt has an 8-17 all-time record against teams ranked #1 in the Associated Press poll, with their last game coming against number one Florida last season on Feb. 25 at Memorial Gym (L, 57-54). The Commodores have faced Kentucky 17 times when the Wildcats are number one, and have a 5-12 record against UK in those games, with the last game coming in in the 2012 SEC Tournament Finals in New Orleans, a game VU won 71-64, their first SEC Tournament title in 61 years. In fact, VU played Kentucky three times that season, and each time the Wildcats were number one. VU is 3-5 in games played at Memorial, 2-0 in neutral site games, and 0-7 in games played in Lexington when UK is #1.
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 13.3 points per game, is second among SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 2.1 per game, which is fifth in the conference overall, and is third in the SEC overall in 3-point field goal percentage (.402). 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 13.3 ppg, while Wade Baldwin IV leads all freshmen in assists with 4.4 per contest. Shelton Mitchell 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 16.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in the first 17 contests. Jones, a preseason All-SEC First Team selection by the league’s coaches, has scored 20+ points in five games this year and is second in the SEC in field goal percentage (.550), fifth in the SEC in scoring, seventh in rebounding, 6th in blocks (1.7), and 6th in defensive rebounding (4.7/game).
Vanderbilt among SEC leaders
The Commodores lead the SEC in FG% with 48.8%, and have shot 50% or better in eight games this year. VU is also 2nd in 3-Pt FG% (.376) and 4th in assists (15.4).
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 913 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 678-670 against the current members of the SEC.