Dec. 16, 2016
After a nine-day break for final exams, the Commodores return to the hardwood on Saturday evening when they take on another in-state foe, Chattanooga, at Memorial Gym. The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network, with the action also being heard across the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
The Commodores last played on December 8 at Middle Tennessee in a game they lost, 71-48. Junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis led the team with 13 points, and fellow junior Jeff Roberson added his sixth straight game in double figures with 11 points.
The Mocs are Vanderbilt’s fourth in-state opponent this season, following match ups with Belmont, Tennessee State, and Middle Tennessee.
Vanderbilt (5-5) vs. Chattanooga (8-2)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Kevin Ingram (play by play), Kyle Macy (Color)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 132, XM 382
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Anchor Points
- Freshman Clevon Brown tied a career high with six points and set a new career-best in rebounds (4) against Middle Tennessee.
- This week, sophomore Camron Justice announced that he would transfer and not return to the Commodore roster.
- Vanderbilt now has nine players on its active roster – Xavier transfer Larry Austin, Jr., is practicing with the team but cannot play until 2017-18 due to NCAA transfer rules.
- Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (41.4%) and three’s made (9.8).
- Fisher-Davis leads the team in scoring with 14.7 points per game, while Luke Kornet adds 12.6 points, and Roberson 11.1.
- Riley LaChance leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (67.6%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1). He is also fifth in the league in assists (4.4) and eighth in three’s made (2.3). LaChance is shooting 23-34 from three on the season and has 37 assists and only nine turnovers in the last seven games and has made 14 threes in his last five games (14-20).
- Fisher-Davis ranks second in the league in three’s made (2.7) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.435).Roberson ranks third in the SEC in defensive rebounding and seventh in rebouding (7.5).
- Matthew Fisher-Davis, and Roberson have scored in double figures in eight games apiece, Luke Kornet six, and Riley LaChance in five.
- Chattanooga will be the Commodores’ fourth non-conference opponent of the season from the state of Tennessee. Vanderbilt has also played Belmont, Tennessee State, and Middle Tennessee.
- The Commodores have had four four-point play attempts this season.
- Freshman guard Payton Willis has started in five 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 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 eighth in the SEC in blocks with 1.8 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, 13-3.
Last Meeting: VU win, 69-57, on 11/25/01 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 5-0.
Record at UTC: VU leads 7-3.
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads 1-0.
Coach Drew vs. Chattanooga: Coach Drew has never faced Chattanooga.
About Chattanooga
- Chattanooga enters the game with an 8-2 record under second-year head coach Matt McCall, a former Billy Donovan assistant at Florida.
- Tre’ McLean leads the Mocs in scoring with 15.0 points per game. Justin Tuoyo (13.6) and Greg Pryor (13.2) also average double figures.
- Saturday will be the 17th overall meeting between the two schools, and the first since Nov. 25, 2001, in a meeting at the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Tournament in Honolulu. Vanderbilt won that game, 69-57.
- The last meeting between the two schools at Memorial Gym came on Dec. 3, 1986, in a 93-64 Commodore win. Vanderbilt is 13-3 all-time against the Mocs, with the first meeting coming in the 1908-09 season.
- The Mocs sport two players from Nashville – sophomore Andrew Fleming, who is sitting out this season after transferring from Iowa, and Makinde London, who is averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
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. Southern Conference
The Commodores have a 58-9 record all-time against members of the Southern Conference. Chattanooga is the only Southern Conference team on this year’s regular season schedule.
974
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 974 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 Chattanooga will be the 993rd 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.