Nov. 28, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Tennessee State Gamenotes
After a two-game stint in Las Vegas at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, the Commodore men’s basketball team returns home to Memorial Gym to face intracity opponent Tennessee State on Tuesday night. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised online on SEC Network Plus, with the action also being heard across the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
Vanderbilt improved to 3-3 on the season after defeating Santa Clara in the consolation round of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on November 25. Luke Kornet led the team with 18 points, with Riley LaChance adding 17, Matthew Fisher-Davis 14, and Jeff Roberson 12. LaChance was 6-7 from the floor and 5-6 from three against the Broncos in being named to the All-Tournament team. He also added four rebounds and six assists, and had zero turnovers. It was his fourth career game with five or more threes. Vanderbilt shot 50% from the floor against Santa Clara, the Commodores’ best percentage of the season. VU also shot a season-best 53.6% from three and made a season-high 15 threes, the first time since making 15 or more since knocking in 17 against Ole Miss on January 15, 2013.
Media Information
Vanderbilt (3-3) vs. Tennessee State (6-0)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network Plus
TV Talent: Kevin Ingram (play by play), Shan Foster (Color)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Anchor Points
- LaChance has posted six assists in three consecutive games (18 total) and has only turned the ball over two times in that span.
- Kornet is the team’s leader in scoring with 14.3 points per game. Fisher-Davis adds 14.2 points per game, while Roberson adds 10.2 points and LaChance 10.0 points per contest.
- Freshman guard Payton Willis, who made his first start against Santa Clara, had a career-high eight assists against Santa Clara. It was the most by a Commodore since Wade Baldwin IV had eight assists against Tennessee State on March 10, 2016. Willis scored a career-high 17 points vs. Butler.
- Tuesday’s game with Tennessee State will be the Commodores’ second match up with a team from Nashville and second from the Ohio Valley Conference (Belmont).
- The Commodores have four players shooting 45% or better from three, with the group led by LaChance, who is 14-20 from three so far this season (70%). Fisher Davis is shooting 45.7% (16-35), Nolan Cressler is shooting 45.5% (5-11), and Clevon Brown is shooting 50% (4-8).
- As a team, Vanderbilt is shooting 76.9% from the free throw line this season.
- Kornet had four blocks against Norfolk State, the 15th time in his career that he has posted four or more blocks. He led the SEC in blocks a year ago and was tied for third nationally, averaging 3.0 per contest.
- Drew takes over the Vanderbilt program after spending five seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, Valparaiso, where he posted a 124-49 record. Drew was a three-time Horizon League Coach of the Year and two-time NABC District 12 Coach of the Year with Valparaiso, where he averaged 25 wins a season, won four regular season championships, and made four postseason appearances, two in the NCAA Tournament and two in the NIT, with the Crusaders.
- Senior Luke Kornet and junior Matthew Fisher-Davis were each named to the All-SEC Preseason second team by the league’s coaches last week.
Series Information
Series Record: VU leads, 8-0.
Last Meeting: VU, win, 78-46, on 11/23/14 at Memorial Gym.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 8-0.
Record at Tennessee St.: NA
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Drew vs. TSU: Coach Drew has never faced Tennessee State.
About Tennessee State
- Tennessee State enters the game with a perfect 6-0 record after recording five wins away from home, including three true road games.
- Senior guard Tahjere McCall leads the Tigers in scoring with 14.5 points per game. Senior forward Wayne Martin adds 14.0 points per game, while senior guard Jordan Reed chips in 12.0 points per contest.
- Tuesday will be the ninth career meeting between the two schools, with Vanderbilt holding an 8-0 series advantage. The previous eight meetings were all held at Memorial Gym.
Other News and Notes
Notes from Santa Clara Game
- Vanderbilt shot 50% from the floor against Santa Clara, the Commodores’ best percentage of the season. VU also shot a season-best 53.6% from three on the night and made a season-high 15 threes.
- The Commodores made 15 threes for the first time since making 17 against Ole Miss on January 15, 2013.
- Vanderbilt had 18 assists on 24 made buckets.
- The Commodores out rebounded the Broncos, 32-21, and 7-1 on the offensive glass.
- Senior center Luke Kornet led the team with 18 points. He also added a team-high six rebounds and a block. Kornet was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the game.
- Junior Riley LaChance tallied 17 points – LaChance was 6-7 from the floor and 5-6 from three. He also added four rebounds and six assists, and had zero turnovers.
- LaChance has posted six assists in three consecutive games and has only turned the ball over two times in that span.
- Junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis added 14 points. He made 3-6 threes for the game, the fourth game this year he has made three or more threes.
- Junior forward Jeff Roberson added his third double-digit game of the season and 25th of his career with a 12-point performance against the Broncos.
- Freshman guard Payton Willis, who made his first start against Santa Clara, had a career-high eight assists. It was the most by a Commodore since Wade Baldwin IV had eight assists against Tennessee State on March 10, 2016.
VU Staff Can Score
The Vanderbilt men’s basketball staff has combined to score a total of 5,486 collegiate points, with head coach Bryce Drew leading the way with 2,142 points. Here’s a breakdown of the staff’s scoring totals.
Head Coach Bryce Drew, Valparaiso=2,142
Asst. Coach Casey Shaw, Toledo=1,562
Assoc. Head Coach Roger Powell, Jr., Illinois=1,178
Asst. Coach Jake Diebler, Valparaiso=586
Total=5,468
Kornet Excels in Classroom
Senior center Luke Kornet has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in the three years he has played at Vanderbilt, and also been named a CoSida All-District Academic Selection in his sophomore and junior seasons.
Kornet is double majoring in computer science and mathematics.
Four with 25+ threes
Four returning Commodores made 25 or more threes a year ago, with Matthew Fisher-Davis leading the way with 79. Riley LaChance (43), Jeff Roberson (30), and Luke Kornet (26) also eclipsed the 25 made three mark.
Returning for VU
57.3% of the team’s scoring returns from a year ago, along with six players who played 28 or more games and four players who made 19 or more starts.
Commodores vs. OVC
The Commodores have a 59-8 record all-time against members of the current Ohio Valley Conference. Vanderbilt defeated Belmont earlier this season in the team’s other matchup with an OVC team this season.
970
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 968 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.
NBA Commodores
Vanderbilt was one of only three schools (Kentucky, Washington) with two first-round selections in the 2016 NBA Draft when Wade Baldwin IV was drafted 17th by the Memphis Grizzlies and Damian Jones was selected 30th by the Golden State Warriors. Baldwin IV and Jones became the sixth and seventh first-round picks, respectively, in the history of the program, joining Will Perdue in 1988 (11th, Chicago), Jeff Turner in 1984 (7th, New Jersey), Clyde Lee in 1966 (3rd, San Francisco), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta), and Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State) in 2012.
Memorial Gym close to 1,000
The matchup with Tennessee State will be the 991st regular season game played at Memorial Gym.
2015-16 National Statistics
In 2015-16, the Commodores finished in a tie for third nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to only 29.4% from three. Vanderbilt also finished fifth in field goal percentage defense (38.6%) and ninth in blocks per game (5.5). Luke Kornet tied for third nationally in blocks, averaging 3.0 per contest.
Commodore Postseason History
The Commodores have been named to 14 NCAA Tournaments and 12 NIT’s. Vanderbilt advanced to the Elite 8 in 1965 (field of 23), and the Sweet 16 in 1988, 1993, 2004, and 2007. The Commodores captured the NIT Championship in 1990 and finished runner-up in 1994.