March 14, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Wichita State Gamenotes | NCAA Tournament Central
The Commodores were selected as an 11 seed in the South regional and will take on fellow #11 seed Wichita State in Dayton, Ohio, Tuesday night in a First Four match up. The game will tip off at 8:10 CT and air on truTV. The radio call can also be heard on the Vanderbilt/IMG Radio Network throughout the Middle Tennessee area.
The winner of the First Four would play Arizona in Providence, R.I., on Thursday.
In the Commodores’ last appearance in the tournament came in 2012, when Vanderbilt, as a number five seed, defeated Harvard and lost to Wisconsin in Albuquerque, N.M.
Vanderbilt will make their 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the seventh of the Kevin Stallings’ era. The Commodores have played in 24 total games and have a record 10-14. Vanderbilt’s other appearances have been in 1965, 1974, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The Commodores appeared in the 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012 tournaments under Stallings, and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2004 and 2007. Vanderbilt also advanced to three consecutive tournaments from 2010-12 for the first time in school history.
Game 33/ Vanderbilt (19-13, 11-6 SEC) vs. Wichita State (24-8, 16-2 MVC)
Dayton, Ohio – Dayton Arena – 8 p.m. CT
TV: truTV
TV Talent: Andrew Catalon (play by play), Steve Lappas (Color), Jamie Erdahl (sidelines)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt win, 65-63, in the postseason NIT on 3/21/05 at Memorial Gym.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 1-0.
Record at WSU: NA.
Record at Neutral Site: NA.
Coach Stallings vs. Wichita St.: Coach Stallings is 1-0 vs. Wichita State.
Quick Hitters
- 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.
- Sophomore point guard Wade Baldwin IV leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game. Junior center Damian Jones also averages double figures with 14.2 points per game.
- Junior forward Luke Kornet leads the team in rebounding with 7.2 rebounds per game. Jones also adds 6.9 rebounds per contest.
- Kornet led the SEC in blocks this season and is fourth nationally with 3.04 blocks per game. In Kornet’s last three games, he has blocked 16 shots.
- Jones led the SEC in league games only in field goal percentage (62.8%). Sophomore guard Matthew Fisher-Davis led the league in three-point field goal percentage (45.7%).
- Baldwin is third in the SEC in assists with 5.2 per game, and finished second in league games only with 6.2 per game. Has had 16 games with five or more assists and has dished out six or more assists in 10 of last 11 games (7.2 per game in that stretch). He is also VU’s all-time sophomore assist leader in a season with 167 assists.
- According to KenPom.com, Vanderbilt ranks 284th out of 351 teams when it comes to experience (1.35 years). The Commodores start two juniors and three sophomores. Despite the youth, the projected starting five has started a combined 333 games.
- Nationally, Vanderbilt is third in the nation in 3FG defense at 29.2%. Vanderbilt also ranks 7th in FG% defense (38.6%), 9th in blocks (5.5), and 19th in 3FG% (38.8%).
- The Commodores have faced Wichita State one other time in the program’s history, with that game coming on March 21, 2005, at Memorial Gym in the NIT, when Vanderbilt defeated the Shockers, 65-63, on a length-of-the-court pass and layup on the game’s final possession.
- Vanderbilt has played two other games at Dayton Arena and won both contests. The Commodores knocked off the University of Dayton, 73-53, on December 5, 1992, and beat the Flyers, 63-60, on December 30, 2005. Vanderbilt is slated to take on the Flyers next season at Dayton Arena in the back end of a home-and-home series.
- Jones, Baldwin, and Kornet were all honored by the SEC by the league’s coaches last 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.
- 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.
Highlights From Big Dance
1965 – Vanderbilt advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to No. 1 ranked Michigan, 87-85. The Vanderbilt-Michigan game featured consensus All-Americans Clyde Lee of Vanderbilt and Cazzie Russell of Michigan.
• Lee scored 28 points (second highest NCAA single-game total by Commodore behind Billy McCaffrey 29-point effort (March 20, 1993, 85-68 victory over Illinois). Lee played the entire second half with four personal fouls.
• Lee also grabbed 20 rebounds (all-time NCAA single-game high by Commodore) in the loss vs. Michigan.
• Lee’s 24-point, 15-rebound effort led Vanderbilt OT win over DePaul, 83-78, to advance to the Michigan game.
• Lee was named All-South Region Most Outstanding Player while Vanderbilt guard Keith Thomas also earned All-Region honors.
1974 – Vanderbilt hits 21 of 22 free throws in loss vs. Marquette (61-69, March 16) – tied for sixth best single-game performance in NCAA tournament.
• Vanderbilt’s Jeff Fosnes was named All-South Region Team.
1988 – Led by All-SEC center Will Perdue, Vanderbilt advanced to the Sweet 16 behind the shooting touch of junior guard Barry Goheen. Seeded No. 7, Vanderbilt defeated
No. 10 Utah State in the first round to meet No. 2 seeded Pittsburgh. With the Commodores trailing by three in the closing seconds, Goheen launched a 25-footer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Goheen helped clinch the victory with four free throws and an assist in overtime.
• National Player of the Year Danny Manning scored 38 points to lead eventual national champion Kansas over the Commodores.
1993 – While advancing to the second Sweet 16, Commodore guard Ronnie McMahan puts on a three-point shooting exhibition, hitting 13 of 19 (68.4 percent). It ranks as the eighth best performance ever in NCAA tournament history.
• As a team, the Commodores hit 47.1 percent of their 3-point attempts (32-68), tied as fifth best team effort in NCAA tournament history.
• Guard Billy McCaffrey puts on a show for the Commodores in 85-68 victory over No. 6 seeded Illinois. McCaffrey sets Commodore single-game NCAA mark with 29 points in the victory.
• In a 67-59 loss to Temple (Sweet 16), Vanderbilt made its only free throw attempt.
2004 – In one of its most memorable NCAA Tournament games in recent history, Vanderbilt overcame an 11-point deficit with 3:45 remaining as Commodore all-time leading scorer Matt Freije poured 31 points, including 11 in the final 3:28 to help Vanderbilt rally for a 75-73 second-round win over N.C. State. Mario Moore hit Corey Smith with a backdoor pass that Smith converted for a conventional three-point play with 23 seconds remaining to help seal the victory.
2007 – Vanderbilt dropped a heartbreaking, 66-65, decision to #2 seed Georgetown in the East Regional semifinals on March 23 behind a controversial, acrobatic layup by Hoya star Jeff Green with 2.5 seconds remaining in regulation. The Commodores knocked off #11 George Washington, 77-44, in the first round, and defeated Washington State, 78-74, in double overtime at ARCO Arena in what many considered the best game of the 2007 tournament. Derrick Byars made five three-pointers in the second half to lead Vanderbilt to victory.
2008 – The Commodores, a four seed, were upset by 13-seed Siena, 83-62, in the first round of the tournament in Tampa, Fla. Vanderbilt’s all-time leading scorer Shan Foster was limited to only 13 points in the lost. It was Vanderbilt’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a #4 seed.
2010 – #4-seed Vanderbilt dropped a heartbreaking, 66-65 decision to #13-seed Murray State in the first round of the West Regional in San Jose, Calif., as the Racers’ Danero Thomas hit a 16-foot jumper as time expired to send Murray State to the second round. First-team All-SEC selection Jermaine Beal was limited to 12 points. It was the Commodores’ second consecutive NCAA Tournament as a number four seed.
2011 – The #5-seeded Commodores lost to #12-seed Richmond, 69-66. Festus Ezeli and John Jenkins each scored 21 points for Vanderbilt.
2012 – The #5-seeded Commodores knocked off #12 seed Harvard, 79-70, before losing to #4 seed Wisconsin, 60-57, in Albuquerque, N.M.
963
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 4th in the nation in blocks at 3.04 blocks per game, and he has spurred the team to 177 blocks on the season, which is 2nd 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 1.69 blocks per game career mark is the second-best in program history behind current Golden State Warrior Festus Ezeli, while Kornet is fifth in the program’s history in career blocks per game (1.49) and fifth in total blocks (137).
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.
Tough Schedule
In all this season, Vanderbilt has faced nine tournament teams, with seven of their 13 non-conference games coming against NCAA Tournament foes. In all, the Commodores faced 13 teams that have advanced to either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT.
Commodores on Neutral Floor
Vanderbilt has played four 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 in Maui and then a 67-65 decision to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament.
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.