Dec. 7, 2016
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Middle Tennessee Gamenotes
After a record-setting performance on Tuesday at home in a win over High Point, the Commodores have a quick turnaround and their first official road game of the season when they travel to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network, with the action also being heard across the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
Vanderbilt improved to 5-4 Tuesday night after a 90-63 win over High Point at Memorial Gym. The Commodores came up with a record-setting performance against the Panthers – Vanderbilt made 19 threes on the night, which set a new school record for threes in a game, surpassing an 18-three performance at Tennessee on January 8, 2005. Junior Matthew Fisher-Davis led five players in double figures with 19 points. Juniors Jeff Roberson and Riley LaChance each added 14 points, freshman Payton Willis 13, and senior Nolan Cressler notched his first double-digit game of the season with 10 points.
Three Commodores made four three’s apiece: Fisher-Davis (4-8), Roberson (4-7), and LaChance (4-4). Willis was 3-4, Cressler 2-3, Joe Toye 1-2, and Clevon Brown 1-2.
Vanderbilt eclipsed season highs in field goal percentage (58%, 29-50), 3-point field-goal percentage (59.4%, 19-32), and free throw percentage (86.7%, 13-15).
The Commodores had 23 assists on 29 made field goals.
Vanderbilt (5-4) vs. Middle Tennessee (8-1)
Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Murphy Center – 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: CBS Sports Network
TV Talent: John Sadak (play by play), Chris Walker (Color)
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
Anchor Points
- Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (42.7%) and three’s made (10.3). The Commodores rank 10th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage.
- Fisher-Davis leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game, while Luke Kornet adds 13.1 points, Roberson 11.1, and LaChance 10.6.
- LaChance leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (71.9%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.8). He is also fourth in the league in assists (4.7) and fifth in three’s made (2.6). LaChance is shooting 23-32 from three on the season and has 35 assists and only six turnovers in the last six games and has made 14 threes in his last four games (14-18).
- Fisher-Davis ranks third in the league in three’s made (2.7), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.436), and 10th in free-throw percentage (.833). Roberson ranks second in the SEC in defensive rebounding and sixth in rebouding (7.4).
- Matthew Fisher-Davis, and Roberson have scored in double figures in seven games apiece, Luke Kornet six, and Riley LaChance in five.
- The Commodores have had four four-point play attempts this season.
- Freshman guard Payton Willis has started in three consecutive games, beginning with the game against Santa Clara. Against the Broncos, Willis had a career-high eight assists. It was the most by a Commodore since Wade Baldwin IV had eight assists against Tennessee on March 10, 2016. Willis scored a career-high 17 points vs. Butler, and recently scored 13 against High Point.
- Vanderbilt played in their fourth neutral site game of the season against Minnesota in Sioux Falls, S.D., joining the season opener vs. Marquette (Veterans Classic, Annapolis, Md.) and the two games at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational (Butler, Santa Clara).
- 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. He is currently sixth in the SEC in blocks with 1.9 per game.
- Head coach Bryce 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.
Series Information
Series Record: VU leads, 29-5.
Last Meeting: MT win 56-52 on 12/21/12 at Bridgestone Arena.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 16-0.
Record at MT: VU leads 13-4.
Record at Neutral Site: MT leads 1-0.
Coach Drew vs. Middle Tennessee: Coach Drew has never faced Middle Tennessee.
About Middle Tennessee
- Middle Tennessee enters the game with an 8-1 record overall and has won six consecutive games.
- JaCorey Williams leads the Blue Raiders in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game. Giddy Potts (14.2) and Reggie Upshaw (14.0) also average double figures.
- The Commodores and Blue Raiders have one common opponent – Tennessee State. Vanderbilt defeated the Tigers, 83-59, while the Tigers knocked off Middle Tennessee, 74-63, in the Blue Raiders’ only loss this season.
- Vanderbilt holds a 29-5 advantage in the overall series with Middle Tennessee, and a 13-4 advantage in games played in Murfreesboro.
- The two teams played a five-game series from 2008 to 2013, with three games played at Memorial Gym, one in Murfreesboro, and one at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Vanderbilt was 4-1 in those games, but Middle Tennessee won the last meeting at Bridgestone, 56-52, on December 21, 2012.
- The two campuses are separated by 39.5 miles.
Other News and Notes
Notes from High Point Game
- Matchup with High Point broke a Memorial Gym record for most combined 3-pointers made in a game. Vanderbilt hit 19 3-pointers and High Point made 12 for a grand total of 31, surpassing the previous mark of 30 when Vanderbilt hosted Arkansas on Feb. 11, 1995.
- Vanderbilt made nine consecutive field goals in the first half, including five 3-pointers, beginning with a Riley LaChance 3-pointer with 12:22 remaining and bookended by another 3-pointer by Nolan Cressler at the 6:58 mark.
- Vanderbilt’s 50 points in the first half were the most points scored by the Commodores in any half this season.
- Vanderbilt’s 90 points scored set a new season-high mark.
- Vanderbilt made 19 3-pointers in the game and broke the previous record of 18 for most 3-pointers made in a game for Vanderbilt, previously set on Jan. 8, 2005 at Tennessee.
- The Commodores also set a new record for most 3-pointers made at Memorial Gym, passing the old mark of 16 that was set on Jan. 8, 1994 vs. South Carolina and then matched on Feb. 11, 1995 vs. Arkansas. The Commodores hit 12 of their 19 3-pointers in the first half.
- Vanderbilt shot 19-32 (59%) from behind the arc for the game.
- The Vanderbilt defense held High Point without a field goal for a 12:54 stretch in the second half, going on a 24-5 run during that timeframe.
- Vanderbilt’s 23 assists set a new season-high. The previous high mark was 18 vs. Santa Clara.
- The Commodores outscored the Panthers, 10-0, in fast-break points.
- Vanderbilt won the points off turnovers battle by a margin of 33-11.
- Jeff Roberson finished with four 3-pointers in the game, a new career-high. Roberson made two 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of gameplay to extend his streak of games with multiple 3-point field goals to four.
- Roberson’s 14 points also marked a new season-high.
- Nolan Cressler set new season-high marks in several categories, including points (10), 3FG Made (2) and assists (5; also a career-high).
- Riley LaChance dished out a new season-high seven assists, just one short of his career-high of eight, which was set on Mar. 7, 2015 vs. Ole Miss.
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. Conference USA
The Commodores have a 66-23 record all-time against members of Conference USA. Middle Tennessee is the only Conference USA on this year’s regular season schedule.
973
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 973 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 High Point was the 992nd regular season game played at Memorial Gym.
The Commodores have a 776-216 record at the SEC’s oldest facility, a winning percentage of .782.
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.
Vanderbilt Coaching History
Bryce Drew is the ninth Commodore basketball coach of the modern era and the 27th all time.