Feb. 27, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes
| Alabama Gamenotes
Vanderbilt returns to the Memorial Gym hardwood this Saturday afternoon when they host the Alabama Crimson Tide in the two team’s second meeting of the season. 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.
The Commodores are coming off of a 73-65 win at Tennessee on Thursday night in Knoxville. The win was Vanderbilt’s third true road victory this season and second in SEC play. Luke Kornet led the Commodores with 21 points on a career-high five made threes. Vanderbilt scored 54 points in the second half and shot an incredible 84.2% (16-19) from the floor and 81.8% (9-11) from three. For the game, Vanderbilt converted on 57.5% of its attempts from the field, its third-best shooting game of the season and best in SEC play. The 52.0% clip from three marked the third time the Commodores were better than 50% from beyond-the-arc. The Commodores finished with a season-high 13 threes made, surpassing its previous high of 10 Vanderbilt made in their last game against Missouri. In the Commodores’ last two games, Vanderbilt is 23-49 from three (46.9%).
Commodores Joining Share The Love Food Drive
Vanderbilt is encouraging fans to bring canned food to the game Saturday as a part of a campus wide initiative sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Staff Advisory Council and the Medical Center Staff Advisory Council. Bring a canned good to the Vanderbilt-Alabama men’s game and the food will be picked up and taken to the Second Harvest Warehouse. The most needed items are soups, stews, canned fruits and vegetables, canned chicken and tuna, peanut butter and cereal.
Game 29/Vanderbilt (16-12, 6-9 SEC) vs. Alabama (17-11, 7-8 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 3 p.m. CT
TV: FSN
TV Talent: Dave Baker (pxp), Daymeon Fishback (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: Alabama leads all-time series, 67-66.
Last Meeting: VU win, 76-68, on 2/14/15
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 40-19.
Record at Alabama: UA leads 44-21.
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads, 5-4
Coach Stallings vs. Alabama: Coach Stallings is 11-8 against Alabama.
About Alabama
Alabama enters the game with a 17-11 overall record and a 7-8 mark in league play. The Commodores won an earlier meeting between the two teams in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 14, 76-68.
Levi Randolph leads the Crimson Tide with 14.8 points per game. Rodney Cooper also averages double digits with 10.3 per game.
Alabama’s second-leading scorer, Ricky Tarrant, is out for the season with a foot injury.
Five Game Trends
In the last five games, seven different players have scored in double figures – Roberson, Siakam, Jones, Baldwin IV, LaChance, Kornet, and Fisher-Davis, with four averaging double figures – Jones (14.6), Kornet (10.8), LaChance (10.4), and Baldwin (10.4). Vanderbilt is shooting 46.6% from the field in the last five games and 40.6% from three in the last five games.
Close Losses
The Commodores’ largest margin of defeat in league play was a 12-point decision at Arkansas. Two of the losses have come in overtime (LSU, Tennessee), and three others have come by three points or less (Georgia, at Miss. State, at Florida). Vanderbilt is six points away from a seven-game win streak (OT loss vs. Tenn., 76-73; 50-47 loss at Florida).
Stallings now has 308 Vanderbilt wins, tied with Tubby Smith for 6th all-time in SEC
Head Coach Kevin Stallings, the school’s all-time winningest coach, is in his 16th season with the Commodores and 21st overall as a head coach. Stallings has 308 career wins at Vanderbilt and 431 overall as a head coach. He has seven 20-win seasons in the last 10 seasons, with six NCAA tournament appearances and two Sweet 16’s (2004 and 2007). He is also 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, and recently tied Tubby Smith for sixth on the SEC all-time wins list.
Damian Jones leads Commodores
Sophomore post player Damian Jones is having a stellar sophomore campaign, averaging 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in the first 28 contests. Jones, a preseason All-SEC First Team selection by the league’s coaches, has scored 20+ points in six games this year and is second in the SEC in field goal percentage (.556), 10th in rebounding, 3rd in blocks (2.0), and 10th in defensive rebounds (4.3).
LaChance leads all SEC Freshmen
Freshman Riley LaChance is the leading freshman scorer in the SEC at 12.4 points per game in all games. He also leads all SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 1.9 per game, which is sixth in the conference overall. LaChance won his third SEC Freshman of the Week honor for his play in two wins against Florida and South Carolina, when he averaged 17 points, 4.5 rebounds, and two steals in the two games. Earlier this year, he poured in two consecutive 26-point games against Purdue and Western Carolina, and has three 20+ point games this season. In all, he has scored in double figures in 20 contests.
Freshmen Leaders
Riley LaChance leads all SEC freshmen in scoring at 12.4 ppg in all games, while Wade Baldwin IV leads all freshmen in assists with 4.4 per contest.
Baldwin now Vanderbilt Freshman Single-Season Assist Leader
Baldwin IV is now Vanderbilt’s all-time freshman single-season assist leader with 123, surpassing Atiba Prater, who had the all-time freshman single-season assist record with 103 in 1997. Shelton Mitchell is 8th on the list with 86. 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.
Siakam Coming On
Senior James Siakam posted two straight double-doubles after posting a 16-point, 10-rebound effort in a win over South Carolina. In a win over Florida, Siakam had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Rebounding runs in the family – James is 18th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, while his brother Pascal, who plays at New Mexico State, is ranked 21st in the same category.
More on Baldwin
aldwin leads all freshmen in assists, and is 5th in the SEC in assists (4.4) in all games, 5th in SEC games only (4.4) and 4th in A/TO ratio (2.2) in all games. He is also 8th in steals in all games (1.6) and is tied for second in SEC games only (1.9). Baldwin already has more steals (44) 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.
Vanderbilt among SEC leaders
The Commodores are 2nd in SEC in FG% 46.8%, and have shot 50% or better in nine games this year. VU is 1st in 3-Pt FG% (.376).
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 347 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 925 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.