March 17, 2015
Vanderbilt Gamenotes
| Saint Mary’s Gamenotes
Postseason play awaits the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team this Wednesday night when the Commodores take on Saint Mary’s at 8 p.m. CT at McKeon Pavilion. The game tips off at 8 p.m. CT, and will be televised on ESPN2 and can be heard on the Vanderbilt IMG College Radio Network throughout Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt, the number five seed in the Colorado State quadrant, will be making their 12th appearance in the NIT and their first appearance since 2006. Other appearances have come in 1983, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2005. In all, this will be Vanderbilt’s 25th postseason appearance, and their first since the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Vanderbilt has now won five of their last six games and eight of their last 11 heading into Wednesday’s contest.
Game 33/#5 Vanderbilt (19-13, 9-9 SEC) vs. #4 Saint Mary’s (21-9, 13-5 WCC)
Moraga, Calif. – McKeon Pavilion – 8 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (pxp), Miles Simon (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads 2-0.
Last Meeting: VU win, 89-70, on 1/22/11 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 1-0.
Record at SMC: VU leads, 1-0.
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Stallings vs. SMC: Coach Stallings is 2-0 vs. Saint Mary’s.
About Saint Mary’s
Saint Mary’s enters Wednesday night’s contest with a 21-9 overall record and a 13-5 mark in West Coast Conference play.
Center Brad Waldow leads the team in scoring with 19.3 points per game. Kerry Carter (12.4) and Aaron Bright (10.7) also average double figures.
This will be the third overall meeting between the two schools. Vanderbilt leads the series, 2-0, and 1-0 in games played at McKeon Pavilion.
Saint Mary’s will be making their eighth consecutive postseason appearance.
More on Vanderbilt in the NIT
This will be Coach Kevin Stallings’ fifth NIT and 11th postseason appearance as Commodore coach. Stallings has a 3-4 all-time record in the NIT.
The Commodores have an 18-10 overall record in the tournament (.643).
The Commodores captured the 1990 NIT and finished runner-up in 1994.
Vanderbilt’s last game in the NIT came on March 15, 2006, in a 79-69 loss at Notre Dame.
The Commodores have had success in games played at Memorial Gym in the NIT and have a record of 12-4 in games in Nashville and a 6-6 record in games played away from home.
Three-Point Barrage
In Vanderbilt’s last five games, the Commodores have combined to make 51-110 from beyond-the-arc (46.4%). Matthew Fisher-Davis has made 14 (14-38, 36.8%), Wade Baldwin IV 12 (12-21, 57.1%). Luke Kornet 11 (11-21, 52.4%), Riley LaChance 10 (10-23, 43.5%), Jeff Roberson 2 (2-3, 66.7%), Shelton Mitchell (1-3, 33.3%), and James Siakam one (1-1, 100%). LaChance finished the regular season sixth in the SEC in three’s made (2.0), while Fisher-Davis finished seventh (1.9).
More Three News
The Commodores have five different players shooting 39% or better from three this season (at least 10 made threes), only the second time since the three-point line came into existance in 1986-87 that a Vanderbilt team has accomplished that. Wade Baldwin IV, Matthew Fisher-Davis, Luke Kornet, Jeff Roberson, and Riley LaChance are the five players shooting 39% or better. In 1987-88, five Commodores – Barry Goheen, Barry Booker, Charles Mayes, Scott Draud, and Derrick Wilcox shot above 40%, the most in program history.
All-SEC
Vanderbilt sophomore center Damian Jones was named to the All-SEC 1st Team and the All-Defensive Team, while freshmen Wade Baldwin IV and Riley LaChance were honored on the All-Freshman Team in an announcement made by the SEC Office on Tuesday.
The trio become the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th selections, respectively, to be honored as an All-SEC team member of the Kevin Stallings’ era, while Jones’ first-team honor is the program’s 56th selection since 1949 and the first since 2012 when John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor were named to the team. Baldwin IV and LaChance became Vanderbilt’s 13th and 14th selections on the All-Freshman team.
Baldwin and LaChance’s selection to the All-Freshman Team marks the first time Vanderbilt has had two players on the team in the same season.
Halftime Deficits
The Commodores have trailed at the half in three of their last four games, and have come back to win all three games. In those three games, VU has outscored opponents 134-83 (+51) in the process in the 2nd half. Vanderbilt is 7-7 in games in which they have trailed at the half, and the seven wins is the most by a Commodores team when trailing at the half since the 2010-11 team won eight games.
Stallings Now Has 311 Vanderbilt Wins, Moves Past Tubby Smith For Sixth On Wins List
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 311 career wins at Vanderbilt and 434 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 is now in 6th place all-time on the SEC wins list after surpassing Tubby Smith after the Alabama win at Memorial Gym.
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 12 points away from an 11-game win streak (OT loss vs. Tenn., 76-73; 50-47 loss at Florida, 67-61 loss vs. Tennessee).
Current 10-Game Stretch Ties a Stallings-Best
This year’s record over final the 10 regular season games ties for the best mark under Coach Stallings. The Commodores were also 8-2 in 07-08.
Basketball Finishes in the Regular Season
2014-2015: won 8 of last 10 games
2013-2014: won 3 of last 10 games
2012-2013: won 6 of last 10 games
2011-2012: won 5 of last 10 games
2010-2011: won 6 of last 10 games
2009-2010: won 7 of last 10 games
2008-2009: won 7 of last 10 games
2007-2008: won 8 of last 10 games
2006-2007: won 6 of last 10 games
2005-2006: won 4 of last 10 games
2004-2005: won 6 of last 10 games
2003-2004: won 6 of last 10 games
2002-2003: won 1 of last 10 games
2001-2002: won 3 of last 10 games
2000-2001: won 2 of last 10 games
1999-2000: won 5 of last 10 games
Baldwin Playing Well
Baldwin IV was recently named to the SEC All-Freshman team after finishing regular season fifth in the league in assists (4.4) in all games and leading all SEC freshmen in assists. For the yera, he has 143 assists and only 64 turnovers this season. Finished regular season 6th in all games in steals (1.5) and 3rd in A/TO ratio (2.2). In league games only, he finished the season fifth in steals (1.7), fourth in assists (4.54, and 8th in A/TO ratio (2.0). He is now 10th all-time and VU’s all-time freshman leader on the Vanderbilt single-season assist list with 143 assists. He has also recorded 48 steals this season, tied for the second-most in last 13 seasons.
Damian Jones leads Commodores
Sophomore post player Damian Jones is having a stellar sophomore campaign, averaging 14.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season. Jones, recently named to the All-SEC first team, has scored 20+ points in seven games this year and is first in the SEC in field goal percentage, 3rd in blocks (2.0), and 10th in scoring. He posted his 7th 20+-point game of the year in his last time out vs. Tennessee, when he scored 20 points and had a career-high 15 rebounds.
LaChance leads all SEC Freshmen
Freshman Riley LaChance, recently named to the All-Freshman team, is the leading freshman scorer in the SEC at 12.5 points per game in all games. He also leads all SEC freshmen in three’s made per contest at 2.0 per game, which is sixth in the conference overall. LaChance has won four SEC Freshman of the Week honor so far his play this season, which is a new program record. 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 23 contests.
Siakam one of SEC’s most effective
There are 65 players in the SEC who have played in 650 minutes or more, and James Siakam is tied at the top of the list with Texas A&M’s Courtney Roberson for the league’s most efficient. Siakam’s offensive efficiency rating is currently 63.0% (FGM + .5 (3FG)/FGA), with most of his makes coming around the basket and on offensive putbacks. Against Mississippi State, the senior had more offensive rebounds (5) than the entire Bulldog team, and also made the first three of his career. Siakam has 15 double-digit point games and three double-doubles this season.
Commodores on Single-Season Lists
Wade Baldwin IV is 10th all-time on the Vanderbilt single-season assist list with 143 assists.
Damian Jones has 462 points this season, which is fifth on Vanderbilt’s sophomore single-season scoring list.
Riley LaChance is fourth on Vanderbilt’s single-season freshman scoring list with 400 points – one of only four Vanderbilt freshman to ever eclipse 400-point barrier. The last Commodore freshman to score 400 or more points in a season was A.J. Ogilvy in 2007-08, when he scored a freshman-record 578 points.
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 928 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.