Feb. 3, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Texas A&M Gamenotes
The Commodores return to SEC action this Thursday evening when they face their sixth ranked opponent of the season in the Texas A&M Aggies, who enter the contest ranked eighth in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2, with all of the action also available on the Vanderbilt IMG Sports Radio Network.
The Aggies will be Vanderbilt’s sixth game against a ranked opponent this season, but the first at Memorial Gym. The previous five have come at neutral sites or on the road. Including Texas A&M, the Commodores have faced nine teams in the top 28 of the NCAA RPI on February 2nd (Kansas, 5th; Texas A&M, 12th; Dayton, 13th; Baylor, 17th; Kentucky, 18th; Texas, 22nd; Florida, 23rd; Purdue, 25th; South Carolina, 28th).
The meeting with the Aggies will be the sixth in the overall series, with the Commodores holding a 4-1 record and a 3-0 mark in games played at Memorial Gym.
In their last time out, Vanderbilt fell 12-9 on the season overall after dropping a 72-58 decision to Texas in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Damian Jones led the Commodores with a career-high 26 points. on a career-best 12 field goals made. He also added nine rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Jones’ 12 made field goals was the most by a Commodore player since Jeffery Taylor scored 12 in a game vs. Longwood on December 19, 2011. Last week, Jones averaged 23.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games.
Matthew Fisher-Davis was Vanderbilt’s other scorer in double figures with 19. Fisher-Davis was 5-10 from three on the day.
The Commodores outshot Texas, 43.4% to 41.4%, and limited the Longhorns to only 25% from beyond the arc (4-16). Texas out rebounded Vanderbilt, 37-29, including 15-8 on the offensive glass.
Game 22/ Vanderbilt (12-9, 4-4 SEC) vs. #8/8 Texas A&M (18-3, 7-1 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Karl Ravech (pxp), Sean Farnham (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: Vanderbilt leads, 4-1.
Last Meeting: TAMU win, 69-58, on 1/31/15 in College Station.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 3-0.
Record at TAMU: Tied at 1.
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Stallings vs. TAMU: Coach Stallings is 3-1 vs. Texas A&M.
Quick Hitters
- Nationally, Vanderbilt ranks 2nd in 3FG% defense (27.5%), 9th in FG% defense (38.1%), 14th in 3FG% (40.1%), and 18th in blocks (5.5).
- Vanderbilt ranks first in all games in the SEC in FG% defense (.381) and 3FG% defense (.275), and is second in 3FG% (.401) and in threes made (8.2). The Commodores rank third in scoring defense (66.3 ppg) and blocks (5.5).
- Luke Kornet’s 10 blocks against Auburn 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 he currenty is fourth in the nation in blocks (3.13 per game).
- 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 (.490).
- Vanderbilt is 10-1 on the season when Kornet attempts more two point baskets than three’s.
- Vanderbilt has an overall record of 88-226 in games versus ranked opponents. Vanderbilt’s last win over a ranked opponent came on March 11, 2012, against number one Kentucky to win the SEC Tournament in New Orleans, and the Commodores have lost 13 consecutive games against ranked opponents. The Commodores are 60-74 in games against ranked opponents at home, with Vanderbilt’s last win coming against Florida on February 28, 2012 (77-67).
- Thursday will be the sixth game against a ranked opponent this season, but the first at home.
- 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 325 career wins at Vanderbilt and 448 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.
952
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 952 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.
Texas Dores?
Thursday’s game against Texas A&M is a familiar matchup for the Commodores, with five players on the Vanderbilt roster hailing from the state of Texas. The five players on the Vanderbilt roster that played high school basketball in the state of Texas – Luke Kornet (Lantana, Liberty Christian), Jeff Roberson (Houston, The Kinkaid School), Djery Baptiste (Plano, Prestonwood Christian Academy), Carter Josephs (San Antonio, Tom C. Clark), and Samir Sehic (Cypress, Cy Woods).
Schedule Tough
Including Texas A&M, the Commodores have faced nine teams in the top 28 of the current NCAA RPI (Kansas, 5th; Texas A&M, 12th; Dayton, 13th; Baylor, 17th; Kentucky, 18th; Texas, 22nd; Florida, 23rd; Purdue, 25th; South Carolina, 28th).
Block Party
Junior Luke Kornet is fourth in the nation in blocks at 3.13 blocks per game, and he has spurred the team to 116 blocks on the season and blocking 10 or shots in a game on three separate occasions. Vanderbit is third in the SEC in blocks in all games (5.5) and second in SEC games only (2.6). Damian Jones is third on the career blocks list with 151, and his 1.73 blocks per game career mark is the best in program history, while Kornet is fifth in the program’s history in career blocks per game (1.3) and seventh in total blocks (105).
About Texas A&M
- Texas A&M enters the game with an 18-3 overall record and a 7-1 mark in SEC play.
- Jalen Jones leads the Aggies, averaging 16.8 points per game. Danuel House (16.0) and Tyler Davis (11.5) also average double figures.
- Vanderbilt is 3-0 all-time against the Aggies in games played at Memorial Gym, with the first meeting coming between the two schools on December 3, 1955. The two teams then did not play again until the Aggies joined the SEC in the 2012-13 season.