Jan. 15, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Alabama Gamenotes
The Commodores will play their second home game of the week when they welcome Alabama to Memorial Gym this Saturday afternoon. The game will tip off at 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network, with all of the action also available on the Vanderbilt IMG Sports Radio Network.
Saturday’s meeting will be the 135th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the series tied at 67. VU holds the series lead in Nashville, 41-19, and has won 12 of the last 13 games against the Crimson Tide at Memorial Gym (2013 lone loss). The first meeting between the two schools came in the 1923-24 season.
Vanderbilt improved to 9-7 and 1-3 in SEC play after their 75-57 win over Auburn Tuesday evening at Memorial Gym. Sophomore Wade Baldwin IV led the Commodores with 17 points, with sophomore Jeff Roberson adding 14 points, Riley LaChance 13, and Luke Kornet 11 points in the win. Kornet also added 11 rebounds and 10 blocks and Vanderbilt’s second triple-double in the program’s history. It was the program’s first triple-double with blocks, and his performance joined Brad Tinsley as the other triple double in program history when he registered 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a win over Presbyterian on November 12, 2010.
Kornet’s 10 blocks set a new program record for blocks in a game – he surpassed three games with seven blocks by Will Perdue (vs. East Carolina, 12/28/87), Festus Ezeli (at Georgia, 2/16/11) and Damian Jones (at South Carolina, 2/13/14). The 10 blocks is also the most in the nation this season, and his 3.36 average per game would place him second in the nation, but NCAA rankings only account for players who have played in 75% or more contests.
Baldwin also added 10 assists, which tied a career high, in his second 10+-assist game of the season. Baldwin has also scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games.
Vanderbilt shot 55.3% from the field, 53.8% from behind the arc and 64% from the FT line. The Commodores have now shot 50% or better from the floor seven times this season and 50% from three three times.
Game 17/Vanderbilt (9-7, 1-3 SEC) vs. Alabama (10-5, 1-2 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 5 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Dave Neal (pxp), Jon Sundvold (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 84, XM 84
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Overall series is tied at 67.
Last Meeting: VU win, 73-66, on 2/28/15.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 41-19.
Record at Alabama: UA leads 44-21.
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads, 5-4.
Coach Stallings vs. Alabama: Coach Stallings is 12-8 against Alabama.
Quick Hitters
- Vanderbilt has a 7-2 record at Memorial Gym this season. The Commodores have an overall scoring margin of +20.7, are averaging 82.3 ppg, and are converting on 49.7% of their shots from the floor and 43.0% from three in the nine games.
- Nationally, Vanderbilt is sixth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.272), ninth in field goal percentage defense (.371), 14th in three-point field goal percentage (40.2), and 20th in blocked shots (5.6).
- Ten players have scored in double figures in a game this season – Wade Baldwin, Luke Kornet, Damian Jones, Jeff Roberson, Riley LaChance, Matthew Fisher-Davis, Nolan Cressler, Camron Justice, Josh Henderson, and Joe Toye.
- Fisher-Davis leads the SEC in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.485), although he missed Auburn game due to injury.
- Vanderbilt is 7-0 on the season when Kornet attempts more two point baskets than three’s.
- In SEC play, Damian Jones leads the SEC in field goal percentage (.733), is fourth in defensive rebounds (6.3), and eighth in blocks (1.5).
- 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 322 career wins at Vanderbilt and 445 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 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.
947
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 947 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.
Academic Success
Eight members of this year’s team were named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll or the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll for 2014-15.
Non-Conference Tough
According to KenPom.com, Vanderbilt has had a difficult non-conference slate. The Commodores’ non-conference schedule is ranked 87th in the nation, but sixth among all Power Five schools. Only Florida (38), UCLA (55), Wake Forest (57), Texas (81), and Virginia (84) have had a tougher schedule accoring to KenPom.
Triple Double
Luke Kornet became the second Vanderbilt player to notch a triple double after he scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and blocked 11 shots against Auburn on January 12, joining Brad Tinsley, who had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a win over Presbyterian on November 12, 2010. Kornet is the 13th player in the nation this season to garner a triple-double, and the first to do so with 10 blocks, which is the most in the nation in a single game by an individual player.
About Alabama
- Alabama enters Saturday’s game with a 10-5 overall record and a 1-2 mark in the SEC after giving South Carolina their first loss of the season Wednesday in Tuscaloosa (73-50).
- Retin Obasohan leads three Crimson Tide players in double figures with 13.9 points per game. Shannon Hale (10.3) and Arthur Edwards (10.0) also average double figures.
- The Commodores have a 41-19 overall record against Alabama at Memorial Gym.
- Saturday’s meeting will be the only meeting between the two schools this year in the regular season.