Jan. 23, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| LSU Gamenotes
The Vanderbilt men’s basketball team returns home for the first time since January 14 when the Commodores take on LSU this Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPNU, and can be heard on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network throughout Middle Tennessee.
In the Commodores’ last time out, Vanderbilt dropped a 65-57 decision to number one ranked Kentucky Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. Vanderbilt never led in the game, but cut the Kentucky lead to three on two occasions in the second half. The Commodores shot 41.5% from the floor for the game and 38.9% from three. Kentucky was 43.5% from the field and 66.7% from three. The two Vanderbilt point guards, Wade Baldwin IV and Shelton Mitchell, combined for eight assists and only three turnovers. The SEC’s freshmen leading scorer, Riley LaChance, led all scorers with 16 points on 6-8 shooting, which included 3-4 from three. LaChance also added three rebounds. Freshman Matthew Fisher-Davis scored 13 points – he was 4-7 from three in 28 minutes. Damian Jones scored 11 points and had seven rebounds. Wade Baldwin IV had a career-high nine rebounds. He also added four assists.
About Saturday
Tickets for the game are available for $20 and can be purchased by visiting vucommodores.com, calling 615-322-GOLD, or visiting the McGugin Center Ticket Office on Friday (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or the Memorial Gym Ticket Office Saturday after 3:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt’s national championship baseball team will be signing autographs at halftime in the Memorial Gym Practice Gym.
Vanderbilt will also receive a surfboard from the Maui Invitational this Saturday at halftime to commemorate VU’s participation in the 2015 tournament November 23-25. The Commodores will be joined at the event by basketball powers Indiana, Kansas, St. John’s, UCLA, UNLV, Wake Forest and host Chaminade.
Game 19/Vanderbilt (11-7, 1-4 SEC) vs. LSU (14-4, 3-2 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 5 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Mike Morgan (pxp), Cory Alexander (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, 60-51.
Last Meeting: LSU win, 57-51, on 3/6/14 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 34-14.
Record at LSU: LSU leads, 30-21.
Record at Neutral Site: LSU leads, 7-5.
Coach Stallings vs. LSU: Coach Stallings is 11-9 against LSU.
About LSU
LSU enters the game with a 14-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in league play, with Jarell Martin leading the Tigers in scoring with 16.9 points per game. Jordan Mickey (15.5), Keith Hornsby (12.5), and Tim Quarterman (12.1) also average double figures.
This will be the only regular season meeting between the two teams this season.
Commoodore leading scorer Damian Jones hails from Baton Rouge where he attended Scotlandville Magnet High School, where he won back-to-back 5A state championships as a junor and senior. As a senior, he was named the Louisiana Class 5A Player of the Year.
LSU has won three straight in the series, dating back to the 2012-13 season. Prior to the Tigers’ win that season, VU had won the previous seven meetings.
LaChance leads all SEC Freshmen
Freshman Riley LaChance is the leading freshman scorer in the SEC at 13.4 points per game in all games and in league games only at 14.4 points per game. He is also first among SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 2.1 per game, which is fourth in the conference overall. He is also third in the SEC overall in 3-point field goal percentage (.418). 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 Wade Baldwin IV leads all freshmen in assists with 4.3 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 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in the first 18 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 (.544), fifth in the SEC in scoring, sixth in rebounding, 6th in blocks (1.8), and 7th in defensive rebounding (4.7/game).
Baldwin, Mitchell 1-2 in Assists Among SEC Freshmen
Wade Baldwin IV leads all freshmen in assists, and is 5th in the SEC in assists (4.3) and 2nd in A/TO ratio (2.6), and has had nine steals in his last three games. Baldwin is tied for third in steals in SEC games only at 1.8 per game. Shelton Mitchell is sixth in the SEC in assists at 4.2 assists per game and only trails his teammate among freshmen in the SEC.
Freshmen On Single-Season Lists
Baldwin is already tied for 8th on VU’s all-time freshman assist list with 78, with Mitchell in ninth at 70. Atiba Prater has the all-time freshman single-season assist record with 103 in 1997. LaChance would be seventh on the freshman single-season scoring average list. Mike Rhodes is VU’s single-season freshman scoring average leader with 18.8 ppg, which came in the 1977-78 campaign.
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.
Vanderbilt among SEC leaders
The Commodores lead the SEC in FG% with 48.4%, and have shot 50% or better in eight games this year. VU is also 2nd in 3-Pt FG% (.377) and 4th in assists (15.2).
Dores 2015 Recruiting Class Ranked 20th by ESPN
Head Coach Kevin Stallings recently signed four players to National Letters of Intent for next season – Djery Baptiste, a 6’11 center from Plano, Texas, Camron Justice, a 6’2 guard from Hindman, Kentucky, Samir Sehic, a 6’9 forward from Cypress, Texas, and Joseph Toye, a 6’7 wing from Chicago, each signed with the Commodores on the first day of the signing period on November 12. The quartet was recently named the 20th-best class in the nation according to ESPN.com.
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 914 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 678-671 against the current members of the SEC.