Feb. 29, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Tennessee Gamenotes
The Commodores will close out their regular season home schedule this Tuesday evening when they welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to Memorial Gym. The game will tip off at 6 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.
Vanderbilt improved to 18-11, 10-6 in SEC play after the 74 -62 win over Kentucky on a Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym. Matthew-Fisher-Davis led Vanderbilt in scoring against the Wildcats. He finished the game in double digits for the 15th time and tied his career high with 20 points and was 4-9 from three point range. It is the 15th time this season that Fisher-Davis has made at least 3 threes in a game.
Damian Jones added his 23rd double digit performance of the season with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Jeff Roberson recorded double figures for the 17th time this season with 16 points to go along with 8 rebounds. Wade Baldwin finished the day with 14 points and 6 assists. It is the 13th time this season Baldwin has finished a game with 5 or more assists.
In Vanderbilt’s last five games, Jones is averaging 18.8 points and 10.0 assists per game. Fisher-Davis is averaging 16.2 points and is 21-41 from three (51.2%), Baldwin is averaging 12.6 points and 6.4 assists per game, and Roberson is averaging 11.6 points during that span. The Commodores also have a +13.2 scoring margin and are shooting 47.5% from the field and 38.5% from three.
Tuesday will be the 190th all-time meeting between the two schools, with Tennessee leading the overall series, 116-73. Vanderbilt leads the series at home, 53-39.
White Out For Game Tuesday
Tuesday night is the annual “White Out” game at Memorial Gym. Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game.
There are still tickets available for the game. Contact the McGugin Center Ticket office at 615-322-GOLD or visit vucommodores.com for more information.
Game 30/ Vanderbilt (18-11, 10-6 SEC) vs. Tennessee (13-16, 6-10 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 6 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Tom Hart (pxp), John Pelphrey (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 106, XM 191
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Tennessee leads, 116-73.
Last Meeting: VU win, 88-74, on 1/20/16 in Knoxville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 53-39.
Record at UT: UT leads, 70-19.
Record at Neutral Site: UT leads, 7-1.
Coach Stallings vs. UT: Coach Stallings is 15-20 vs. Tennessee.
Quick Hitters
- Jones was named the SEC Player of the Week after averaging 21.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in two Commodore wins last week. Jones scored a new career-high 27 points against Florida on 12-13 shooting from the floor, which set a new program record for field goal percentage in a game with 10 or more made shots (92.3%). In a win over Kentucky, he scored 15 points and had eight rebounds – his sixth consecutive and 71st career game in double figures.
- Nationally, Vanderbilt leads the nation in 3FG% defense at 28.5%. Vanderbilt also ranks 7th in FG% defense (38.1%), 16th in blocks (5.4), and 18th in 3FG% (39.1%).
- Vanderbilt ranks first in all games in the SEC in 3FG% defense (.285) and second in FG Defense (381), 3FG% (.391), blocks (5.4), and 3FG made (8.4). In league games only, Vanderbilt leads the conference in blocks with 5.4 per game and is second in FG% (.453), 3FG% (.385), 3FG% defense (.296), and 3FG made (8.4).
- The Commodores are 13-2 on the season at home and 3-8 in true road games this year, with the three road wins coming at Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida.
- Vanderbilt has won seven in a row at home, are averaging 80.2 points per game in 15 home games, and have posted a scoring margin of +16.8. The Commodores are shooting 47.8% at home, compared to 37.3% by opponents, and are converting on 41.2% of its three-point attempts, compared to 28.9% for opponents. A win over the Volunteers would give VU its best home winning percentage (.875) since going 14-2 at Memorial Gym in 2009-10.
- Kornet leads the SEC in blocks in all games and in SEC games only, and Jones is sixth in all games and in SEC games only. Roberson is tied for fourth in the SEC in all games in free throw percentage at 83.5% and leads the SEC in league games only at 87.5%. Fisher-Davis is first in the SEC in all games in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.465).
- 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. Baldwin, Kornet, Jones, Roberson, and Fisher-Davis have each posted double-doubles.
- 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 331 career wins at Vanderbilt and 454 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.
960
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 960 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. Junior Luke Kornet was also recently named to the CoSIDA All-District Three Academic Team.
Damian Jones Coming On
Damian Jones is showing why he is considered one of the nation’s top big men in his last five games, averaging 18.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Jones, a Wooden Award, Lute Olson Award, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list member, who was also named as a preseason All-SEC First Team member, has scored 20 or more points in six different games this year, including in two of his last four games. The engineering major from Baton Rouge, La., leads the SEC in field goal percentage in league games only (61.4%) and second in all games (58.5%).
Schedule Tough
The Commodores have faced seven teams in the top 25 of the current NCAA RPI (Kansas, 1st; Kentucky, 15th; Purdue, 18th; Texas, 20th; Texas A&M, 21st; Baylor, 23rd; Dayton, 25th).
Block Party
Junior Luke Kornet is 12th in the nation in blocks at 2.75 blocks per game, and he has spurred the team to 158 blocks on the season (already 5th all-time team total in program history) and blocking 10 or shots in a game on three separate occasions. Damian Jones is second on the career blocks list with 164, 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 (1.36) and fourth in total blocks (121).
Finishing Strong
The last two Februarys have been very kind to the Commodores, with Vanderbilt posting a combined 12-4 record in the last two years. Vanderbilt has won four of its last five league games this season, and in 2015, the Commodores won their last five regular season league games of the season and eight of their last 10.
Ranked Opponents
The game with Kentucky was Vanderbilt’s seventh ranked game of the season, and the seven ranked games is the most a Vanderbilt team has faced in a season since the Commodores had 10 games against ranked foes in 2011-12. The most games against a ranked foe in a single season came in the 2002-03 campaign, when the Commodores faced 12 ranked teams.
About Tennessee
- Tennessee enters the game with a 13-16 overall record and a 6-10 mark in the SEC.
- The Volunteers are led by guard Kevin Punter, who averages 22.1 points per game. However, Punter has missed the last three games due to injury and his status for Tuesday’s game is unknown. Robert Hubbs III also averages 10.1 points per game.
- Vanderbilt won the first meeting in Knoxville, 88-74, on January 20. The Commodores are looking for their first season sweep of the Volunteers since the 2009-10 campaign.