Jan. 6, 2017
After an 80-61 win over Auburn in their SEC home opener on Wednesday night at Memorial Gym, the Commodores and their 2-0 conference start once again hit the road, with the Alabama Crimson Tide awaiting Vanderbilt on Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU, with the action also being heard across the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
Vanderbilt improved to 8-6 and 2-0 in SEC play after defeating Auburn, 80-61 in their conference home opener at Memorial Gym on Wednesday night in a game where they never trailed. Junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis tallied a career-high 33 points in the win over the Tigers and senior center Luke Kornet added his sixth career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
The last time Vanderbilt was 2-0 in SEC play was the 2011-12 season. The team started out 4-0 in conference play that year.
Vanderbilt (8-6, 2-0) vs. Alabama (8-5, 1-0)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Coleman Coliseum – 6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Kevin Fitzgerald (play by play), Chris Spatola (Color)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 136, Sirius 192
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Anchor Points
- Vanderbilt’s win marked its 13th consecutive victory in the series against Auburn. The Commodores now lead the all-time series by a margin of 89-51.
- Vanderbilt finished the game 14-33 (42.4%) from 3-point range. Vanderbilt now has 30 3-pointers combined in the past two games.
- Fisher-Davis’ 33 points was the first time a Commodore scored that many points since March 4, 2009, when AJ Ogilvy scored 33 points in a win over LSU.
- Fisher-Davis also knocked down seven 3-pointers, a new career-high. He made five in the first half. He was the first Vanderbilt player to make seven three’s in a game since John Jenkins made seven against Lafayette on December 21, 2011.
- Fisher-Davis has scored 25 (Dayton), 23 (LSU), and 33 (LSU) in his last three games (81points), the most in a three-game span since Shan Foster scored 85 in the spring of 2008 (at Arkansas, 3/1, 22; Miss. St., 3/5, 42; at Alabama, 3/8, 21).
- The Commodores are in their 84th season of SEC basketball – Vanderbilt is one of the founding members of the Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt’s next SEC win will be its 700th all-time league win.
- Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (40.4%), in threes made (10.2) and free throw percentage (77.7%).
- Fisher-Davis leads the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game, while Kornet adds 12.6 points, and Roberson 10.1.
- Making three’s is not a new thing for this year’s Commodore team. Combined in their career, current players have made 691 career threes. Fisher-Davis leads the way with 194. Cressler has 151, LaChance 139, and Roberson 111.
- Riley LaChance leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (58.8%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8). He is also eighth in the league in assists (4.3) and eighth in three’s made (2.1).
- Fisher-Davis is fifth in the SEC in scoring, second in the league in three’s made (3.1), and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.425). Roberson ranks third in the SEC in defensive rebounding and is fifth in rebounding (7.6). Kornet is tied for seventh in the SEC in blocks (2.0) and 9th in free throw percentage (.836).
- Matthew Fisher-Davis has scored in double figures in 12 games, Roberson 10, Luke Kornet nine, and Riley LaChance in six.
- Luke Kornet registering double-digit rebounds is usually a good thing for the Commodores. Vanderbilt is 9-0 when he registers double-figure rebounds and 6-0 when he tallies a double-double. In fact, in the last four years, the Commodores are 18-1 when a player has double-digit rebounds.
- Senior guard Nolan Cressler, who transferred from Cornell after his sophomore season, is now only 13 points away from 1,000 in his career.
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 68-67.
Last Meeting: VU win, 71-63, on 1/16/16
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 42-19.
Record at Alabama: UA leads 44-21.
Record at Neutral Site: VU leads, 5-4.
Coach Drew vs. Alabama: Coach Drew has never faced Alabama.
About Alabama
- Alabama enters the game Saturday with an 8-5 overall record and a 1-0 mark in SEC play after a 68-58 road win at Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
- Dazon Ingram leads the Crimson Tide in scoring with 9.9 points per game. Braxton Key is next at 9.6 points per contest.
- Vanderbilt owns a 68-67 series advantage against the Crimson Tide, with Saturday’s meeting being the 136th overall in the series and the 66th meeting in Tuscaloosa.
- The Commodores have won three consecutive games in the series, with Alabama’s last win coming in Tuscaloosa on January 7, 2014.
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
Memorial Gym close to 1,000
The matchup was Auburn was the 994th regular season game played at Memorial Gym.
The Commodores have a 778-216 record at the SEC’s oldest facility, a winning percentage of .782.
Dores Drain Threes
Vanderbilt made 19 threes against High Point on December 6, which set a new school record for threes in a game, surpassing an 18-three performance at Tennessee on January 8, 2005.
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.
VU Makes Gamewinner
The Commodores made their first game-winning basket in almost four years against Chattanooga on December 17, when Luke Kornet made a three with 2.9 seconds remaining to give VU the 76-74 win over the Mocs.
The game-winner was the first since Kevin Bright made a 15-footer from the baseline on February 27, 2013, to defeat Georgia, 63-62, at Memorial Gym.
Neutral Site Dores
Vanderbilt has played in four neutral site games already this season – against Minnesota in Sioux Falls, S.D., the season opener vs. Marquette (Veterans Classic, Annapolis, Md.) and the two games at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational (Butler, Santa Clara).
Commodores vs. SEC
Vanderbilt is in its 84th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 699-685.
978
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 978 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.
First Time This Season
With the win over Chattanooga on December 17, Vanderbilt won its first game this season when: trailing at halftime, trailing with five minutes remaining, tied with two minutes remaining, in a game decided by 3 points or less, when outshot by an opponent, when outrebounded by an opponent, and when an opponent scores 70 points or more.
Fisher-Davis in Top 10 for 3’s
Matthew Fisher-Davis now has 194 threes in his Vanderbilt career and is in 10th place in career threes made on the Commodores’ all-time list. Fisher-Davis is three short of ninth place Mario Moore, who played from 2003-06.
Commodores make 16 3’s vs LSU
Vanderbilt made 16 of 32 threes in route to a 96-89 win over LSU on December 29, the Commodores third game this season making 15 or more threes.
On December 29, the two teams combined to make 33 three pointers, which set a new SEC record for combined threes in a game.