Feb. 6, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| South Carolina Gamenotes
After defeating Florida on Tuesday night, the Commodores remain home for a showdown with South Carolina this Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym. The game tips off at 3 p.m. CT, and will be televised on FSN and can be heard on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network throughout Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt improved to 12-10 and 2-7 in SEC play with its 67-61 win over the Gators Tuesday, with freshman Riley LaChance leading the way with 15 points. Senior James Siakam notched his fifth career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Damian Jones added 13 points and freshman Wade Baldwin IV 11 in the Commodores’ victory. Vanderbilt held the Gators to only 36.8% from the floor and 31.6% from three on the night.
Game 23/Vanderbilt (12-10, 2-7 SEC) vs. South Carolina (11-10, 2-7 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 3 p.m. CT
TV: FSN
TV Talent: Pete Pranica (pxp), Sean Tuohy (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 92, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: VU leads, 28-25.
Last Meeting: SC win, 65-59, on 2/13/14 in Columbia.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 15-10.
Record at SC: SC leads, 13-12.
Record at Neutral Site: SC leads, 2-1.
Coach Stallings vs. SC: Coach Stallings is 15-14 vs. South Carolina.
About South Carolina
South Carolina enters Saturday’s game with a 11-10 overall record and a 2-7 mark in league play. Guard Sindarius Thornwell leads the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game. Duane Notice (11.1) and Tyrone Johnson (10.0) also average double figures. Michael Carrera leads the team in rebounding with 5.6 rebounds per game.
Vanderbilt has a 15-10 record at home against the Gamecocks. The Commodores won the last meeting between the two teams at Memorial Gym on March 9, 2013, 74-64.
LaChance leads all SEC Freshmen
Freshman Riley LaChance is the leading freshman scorer in the SEC at 12.5 points per game in all games, and also leads all SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 2.0 per game, which is fourth in the conference overall. 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 12.5 ppg, while Wade Baldwin IV leads all freshmen in assists with 4.4 per contest.
Damian Jones leads Commodores
Sophomore post player Damian Jones is having a stellar sophomore campaign, averaging 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in the first 22 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 (.529), eighth in the SEC in scoring, ninth in rebounding, 3rd in blocks (2.0), 9th in defensive rebounding (4.5/game), and 10th in offensive rebounding (2.3).
Freshmen On Single-Season Lists
Baldwin IV is now 3rd on single-season assist list for freshmen with 96, with Shelton Mitchell 8th on the list with 80. 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 (12.5). Mike Rhodes is VU’s single-season freshman scoring average leader with 18.8 ppg, which came in the 1977-78 campaign.
More on Baldwin
Baldwin leads all freshmen in assists, and is 4th in the SEC in assists (4.4) and 3rd in A/TO ratio (2.3), and has had 18 steals in his last six games. He is also tied for third in assists in SEC games only (4.3). Baldwin is tied for first in steals in SEC games only at 2.0 per game and already has more steals (34) than last year’s season leader, James Siakam, who had 28 for the entire season. He also won his first SEC Freshman of the Week honor earlier this season.
Stallings wins 300 vs. Penn, now has 304 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 46.9%, and have shot 50% or better in eight games this year. VU is also 1st in 3-Pt FG% (.371) and 4th in assists (15.1).
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.
All in the Family
Senior James Siakam posted his fifth double-double of his career against Florida, when he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He also added five blocks and two assists. The redshirt senior is ninth in the league in all games with 2.3 per game, and fifth in SEC games only in free throw percentage at 84.8%.
Siakam is 34th in the nation in Offensive Rebounding % (14.0%). His younger brother Pascal at New Mexico State ranks 15th (15.7%).
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 918 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.