March 9, 2016
Vanderbilt will open play at the 2016 SEC Basketball Tournament this Thursday when they take on the winner of the tournament’s first-round game on Wednesday between Tennessee and Auburn. The game will tip off 25 minutes after the first game of the day at noon on Thursday and will be televised on the SEC Network, with all of the action also available on the Vanderbilt IMG Sports Radio Network.
Vanderbilt ended the regular season with a 19-12 overall record and an 11-7 mark in SEC play after dropping a 76-67 decision to Texas A&M in College Station on March 5. The 11 SEC wins is the most since the Commodores registered 12 in 2009-10, and the 15th time in program history a Vanderbilt team has recorded 11 or more league victories.
Wade Baldwin IV and Damian Jones led Vanderbilt in scoring with 11 points apiece against the Aggies. Matthew Fisher-Davis added 10 points.
Luke Kornet blocked six shots against Texas A&M, his 11th game this season with four or more blocks. In his last two games, Kornet has blocked 11 shots.
Baldwin added eight assists, his 15th game this season with five or more assists.
Jones, Baldwin, and Kornet were all honored by the SEC by the league’s coaches this week. Jones was named a first-team All-SEC selection for the second consecutive season, Baldwin was named to the second team, and Kornet was named as an All-Defensive team member.
The Commodores will face either Auburn or Tennessee Thursday, two teams they have played twice this season. Vanderbilt is 2-0 against both teams.
Vanderbilt and the SEC Tournament
- Vanderbilt will be the #5 seed at the 2016 SEC Tournament in Bridgestone Arena. It is only the secone time in the Commodores have been the overall 5th seed in the SEC Tournament (0-1 record).
- Vanderbilt owns a 37-52 all-time mark at the SEC Tournament. The Commodores won their first SEC Tournament crown in 2012 for the first time since 1951 in a 71-64 win over #1-ranked Kentucky in New Orleans.
- In all, Vanderbilt is making its 55th appearance in the SEC Tournament. VU has reached the semifinals 13 times, including four of the last six years, and the finals twice. VU’s two trips to the finals have both resulted in SEC Tournament Titles, which came in 1951 with a 61-57 win over Kentucky and in 2012 in a 71-64 win over the Wildcats.
- Vanderbilt’s SEC Tournament record against each opponent follows: Alabama (4-4), Arkansas (1-3), Auburn (2-6), LSU (4-6), Ole Miss (3-4), Mississippi State (8-6), Missouri (0-0), Florida (2-6), Georgia (6-1), Kentucky (5-4), South Carolina (0-0), Tennessee (1-7), Texas A&M (0-0).
The SEC Tournament in Nashville
The SEC Tournament returns to Nashville this week for the eighth time in tournament history and the second consecutive season. The Commodores have hosted the tournament at Memorial Gym twice in 1984 (1-1) and 1991 (0-1), and the event has been held at the now-Bridgestone Arena in 2001 (0-1), 2006 (1-1), 2010 (1-1), 2013 (2-1), and 2014 (0-1). All-time in games played in Nashville, the Commodores are 5-7.
Stallings at the SEC Tournament
Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings is 12-14 all-time at the SEC Tournament, and has advanced to the semifinals five times and the finals once during his previous 16 trips. The Commodores advanced to the semifinals in 2004 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and four of the last six seasons (at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (2010, 2013), the Georgia Dome in 2011, and the New Orleans Arena in 2012.). His Commodore team made the finals and won the tournament championship in 2012.
Game 32/ Vanderbilt (19-12, 11-6 SEC) vs. Auburn (11-19, 5-13)/Tennessee (13-18, 6-12)
Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena – 2:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (pxp), Sean Farnham (analyst), Shannon Spake (sidelines)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 145, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
The Auburn Series
(AU leads 6-2 at SEC Tourney)
Vanderbilt owns an 88-51 advantage in the all-time series, leading 50-17 in Nashville and 36-29 in Auburn… The Commodores defeated Auburn this year at Memorial Gym in their SEC opener, 64-52, on January 6 … The Tigers are 5-2 against the Commodores at neutral sites with all seven meetings coming at the SEC Tournament… The Commodores defeated Auburn, 93-82, in the opening round of the 2008 SEC Tournament in Vanderbilt’s highest scoring SEC Tournament game ever…Kevin Stallings is 13-5 all-time against Auburn.
The Tennessee Series
(UT Leads 7-1 at SEC Tourney)
Tennessee leads the all-time series, 116-74. The Volunteers lead 70-19 in Knoxville and 7-1 at neutral sites. Vanderbilt owns a 53-39 advantage in Nashville… Vanderbilt swept the season series this year, winning 88-74 on January 20 in Knoxville and 86-69 on March 1 in Nashville…Tennessee won the last meeting at the SEC Tournament, a 67-61 decision in last year’s tournament on March 12, 2015… Vanderbilt has played more games (189) against Tennessee than any other league opponent … Kevin Stallings is 16-20 all-time against Tennessee.
Quick Hitters
- Nationally, Vanderbilt is fifth in the nation in 3FG defense at 29.1%. Vanderbilt also ranks 8th in FG% defense (38.6%), 11th in blocks (5.5), and 19th in 3FG% (39.0%).
- Vanderbilt ranks first in all games in the SEC in 3FG% defense (.291) and second in FG Defense (.386), 3FG% (.390), blocks (5.5), and 3FG made (8.4).
- Kornet leads the SEC in blocks in all games and in SEC games only, and Jones is eighth in all games and 10th in SEC games only. Roberson is third in the SEC in all games in free throw percentage at 84.0% and is second in the SEC in league games only at 87.7%. Fisher-Davis is first in the SEC in all games in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.455).
- 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 332 career wins at Vanderbilt and 455 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.
- Nine of Vanderbilt’s 11 league wins have come by double digits this season, and 16 of 19 overall.
- Vanderbilt swept Florida and Tennessee for the first time since 2010 (4 wins), and for only the second time since 1965-66, when VU knocked off Tennessee twice and Florida once that season.
- In the Commodores’ last five games, Damian Jones leads four players in double figures with 16.4 points and also has averaged 8.0 rebounds per game. Wade Baldwin has chipped in 14.4 points, Jeff Roberson 13.0, and Matthew Fisher-Davis 12.2.
962
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 962 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.
All-SEC
Vanderbilt junior center Damian Jones was named to the All-SEC 1st Team, sophomore Wade Baldwin IV was named to the second team, and junior forward Luke Kornet was named to the All-SEC Defensive team by the league’s 14 coaches, in an announcement made by the league office on Tuesday.
The trio become the 35th, 36th, and 37th 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 57th selection since 1949 and his second consecutive appearance on the first team. Baldwin IV is the programs’ 55th second-team selection by the coaches or the media, and Kornet joins Jones and former Commodore Jeffery Taylor as the only Vanderbilt players named to the All-Defensive team.
Damian Jones Coming On
Damian Jones is showing why he is considered one of the nation’s top big men at the end of the season. 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 and the engineering major from Baton Rouge, La., leads the SEC in field goal percentage in league games only (62.8%) and second in all games (59.4%).
Home Sweet Home
The Commodores finished the season 14-2 at home, their best winning percentage (.875) at home since 2009-10. Vanderbilt won eight in a row at home to the end the year, and averaged 80.2 points per game and posted a scoring average of +16.8. VU shot 47.9% from the floor in the 16 home games and limited opponents to 37.8%, and converted on 40.7% of its shots from three. Opponents shot only 29.9% from three for the year at Memorial Gym.
Block Party
Junior Luke Kornet is 7th in the nation in blocks at 2.96 blocks per game, and he has spurred the team to 172 blocks on the season (already 3rd 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 165, and his 1.70 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 (1.45) and fifth in total blocks (132).
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 six of last eight 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 Texas A&M was Vanderbilt’s eighth ranked game of the season, and the eighth 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.
Commodores on Neutral Floor
Vanderbilt has played three games on neutral floors this season at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in November, defeating St. John’s, 92-55, and Wake Forest, 86-64, while dropping a 70-63 decision to Kansas in the championship game. The Commodores were led by Damian Jones in Maui, who scored 13.0 points per game and averaged 8.3 rebounds. Wade Baldwin IV added 12.3 points per game, and Luke Kornet averaged 11.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per contest.
Centers and Academics
The Commodores post men, Damian Jones, Luke Kornet, and Josh Henderson, are not only contributors on the floor, but also overachievers off of it as well. Jones, an SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient last season, is majoring in engineering science, while Kornet, a two-time SEC Academic Honor roll and CoSida All-District Academic team member, is majoring in computer science. Sixth year graduate student Josh Henderson, who hit the shot heard around the world against Florida, graduated with a degree in Economics in 2014 and will graduate with a master’s degree in education with a focus in leadership and organizational performance.
Vanderbilt and the Computers
The Commodores are ranked #19 by the Sagarin ratings, #23 by KenPom, #23 in the BPI, and #49 in the RPI. Vanderbilt’s strength of schedule ranking is #21 by the BPI, #23 by Ken Pom, and #37 by the Sagarin ratings.