Jan. 1, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| LSU Gamenotes
The Commodores’ men’s basketball team begins Southeastern Conference play on Saturday night when they host LSU at Memorial Gym. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2, with all of the action also available on the Vanderbilt IMG Sports Radio Network.
Vanderbilt and LSU will meet of the 113th time on Saturday, with the Commodores holding a 60-52 advantage in the series and a 34-15 series lead in games played at Vanderbilt. The first meeting between the two schools came in the 1922-23 campaign.
Vanderbilt won their last time out, an 86-61 victory over Western Michigan Wednesday night at Memorial Gym. Wade Baldwin IV notched his second career double-double with 15 points and 10 assists to lead the Commodores, while Jeff Roberson also added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Nolan Cressler (14, tied a season high), Riley LaChance (new season high 14), and Damian Jones (13) also added double figures.
Game 13/RV/RV Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. LSU (7-5)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 8 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Mark Jones (pxp), Kara Lawson (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 108, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 60-52.
Last Meeting: LSU win, 79-75, in overtime on 1/24/15 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 34-15.
Record at LSU: LSU leads, 30-21.
Record at Neutral Site: LSU leads, 7-5.
Coach Stallings vs. LSU: Coach Stallings is 11-10 against LSU.
Quick Hitters
- Jones surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his career on Wednesday against the Broncos, becoming the 44th player in Vanderbilt history to break the 1,000-point barrier. He now has 1,006 points. Jones’ 13-point game was his 9th game of the season in double figures and the 57th of his career.
- Jones also now has 136 career blocks, which puts him fourth on the all-time Vanderbilt blocks list, and his 1.74 blocks per game average is the best by a Commodore who has played in 50 or more games.
- Baldwin’s double-double was the second of his career, and the first when registering a double-double in points and assists. He scored 20 points and and 10 rebounds in a 2nd round NIT win over South Dakota State last season.
- Roberson’s double-double was his second of his career and second of the season. He posted an 11-point, 13-rebound effort against St. John’s in Maui on Nov. 23.
- The Commodores shot 51.8% from the floor while limiting Western Michigan to 37.0%. Vanderbilt is now 7-1 when outshooting an opponent, and Wednesday’s game was the fifth time this year the Commodores have shot 50% or better from the field.
- The Commodores held Western Michigan to only 11.1% from beyond the arc. In Vanderbilt’s last two games, opponents are a combined 4-for-37 from three (10.8%).
- Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with LSU, 60-52, and 34-15 in games played in Nashville, but the Tigers have won four consecutive games in the series. The Commodores’ last win came on February 8, 2012, in a 76-61 win at Memorial Gym. This will be the third consecutive meeting between the two schools that will take place in Nashville. LSU head coach Johnny Jones is 4-0 all-time against the Commodores.
- Two Commodores are averaging double figures on the season, with Baldwin leading the way with 14.7 ppg. Jones is also averaging 12.6 points per game.
- Seven of the team’s eight wins have come by 20 points or more – VU leads the SEC in scoring margin (+17.8).
- Ten players have scored in double figures in a game this season – Baldwin, Luke Kornet, Jones, Roberson, LaChance, Matthew Fisher-Davis, Cressler, Camron Justice, Josh Henderson, and Joe Toye.
- Fisher-Davis leads the SEC in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.481) and has made 17 three’s in his last six games.
- The Commodores have held opponents to only 61.8 points per game, 35.8% from the floor, and 27.1% from three, which all lead the SEC. VU’s FG% defense ranks third in the nation, and its 3FG% defense ranks eighth in the country. The Commodores also ranked in the top 20 in the nation in Scoring Margin (17th), Scoring Defense (17th), and 3PT FG% (17th).
- Head Coach Kevin Stallings, the school’s all-time winningest coach, is in his 17th season with the Commodores and 23rd overall as a head coach, and is now the dean of SEC coaches. Stallings has 321 career wins at Vanderbilt and 444 overall as a head coach. He has eight 20-win seasons in the last 12 seasons, with 11 total postseason appearances, six NCAA tournaments, 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.
- The Commodores have three players at seven feet or higher in their front court – Josh Henderson (7’0), Damian Jones (7’0), and Luke Kornet (7’1). LSU has two seven footers, and the rest of the league has one or fewer.
Vanderbilt and the SEC
As of December 31, The Commodores lead the SEC in scoring margin (+17.8), scoring defense (61.8), field goal percentage defense (.358), 3FG% defense (.271), and second in 3FG% (.402) and three’s made (8.4). Matthew Fisher-Davis leads the SEC in three-point FG% (.481).
943
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 943 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.
About LSU
- LSU enters conference play with a 7-5 overall record after dropping their last time out against Wake Forest, 77-71.
- Freshman Ben Simmons leads the Tigers iin scoring and rebounding, averaging 19.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Keith Hornsby (16.3), Craig Victor II (14.0), Tim Quarterman (11.9), and Antonio Blakeney (10.1) also average double figures.
- Junior Damian Jones, from Baton Rouge, played with junior forward Brian Bridgewater at Scotlandville Magnet in Baton Rouge.
- LSU has won four consecutive games in the series.