Jan. 30, 2017
After a solid 84-78 victory over Iowa State on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, the Commodores return to Southeastern Conference play this Tuesday when they travel to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M. The game will tip off at 8 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.
The Commodores improved to 10-11 on the season after defeating Iowa State, 84-78, on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Memorial Gym. Senior Luke Kornet led Vanderbilt with a season-high 21 points, with senior Nolan Cressler adding a season-high 20 points, junior Jeff Roberson chipping in 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and junior Matthew Fisher-Davis tallying 14 points.
The win moved the Commodores to 1-3 all-time in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Vanderbilt made 13 3-pointers as a team. It was the ninth time this season that the Commodores have made 10 or more 3’s in a game and the team now owns an 8-1 record in those games. The only loss was to Alabama on Jan. 7.
Cressler’s 20 points marked a career-best for him in a Commodores uniform. His previous season-best was 11 points on two different occasions, and his previous best as a Commodore was 14 points, which occurred three times in 2015-16. Cressler scored 34 points in a game for Cornell against Brown on Feb. 22, 2014 before transferring to Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt (10-11, 3-5 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (11-9, 3-5 SEC)
College Station, Texas – Reed Arena – 8 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Mike Couzens (play by play), Brooke Weisbrod (color)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 93, Sirius 385
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Anchor Points
- Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (39.1%), threes made (10.0) and free throw percentage (77.9%) in all games. In league games only, the Commodores are first in free throw percentage (75.5%) and threes made (10.4). The Commodores rank eighth nationally in free-throw percentage and are 13th in 3’s made per game.
- The Commodores have the second-toughest schedule in the nation according to the NCAA RPI and Jerry Palm. KenPom.com has Vanderbilt’s schedule ranked seventh.
- Riley LaChance leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage in all games (52.4%) and in SEC games only (47.5%). He is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and eighth in the league in assists (4.1) in all games. In three’s made, LaChance ranks eighth in all games (2.0) and fifth in SEC games only (2.4), while also ranking 6th in free throw percentage in league games only (84.0%).
- Matthew Fisher-Davis leads the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game, while Luke Kornet adds 13.6 points, with LaChance (10.7) and Roberson (10.4) each adding double figure scoring.
- Fisher-Davis is seventh in the SEC in scoring in all games and fifth in SEC games only (16.1), and second in the league in three’s made (2.7) in all games and league games only (2.6). He shoots 39.3% from three in all games, which is sixth in the SEC.
- Fisher-Davis now has 207 career threes and is currently ninth on Vanderbilt’s all-time career three’s made list.
- Roberson ranks third in the SEC in defensive rebounding and is fourth in rebounding (7.6) in all games. In SEC games only, he ranks fourth in rebounding (7.6), and third in defensive rebounding (5.8).
- Senior guard Nolan Cressler, who transferred from Cornell after his sophomore season, eclipsed the 1,000 point barrier against Tennessee after scoring 10 points. He now has 1,052 points in his career. Cressler has scored in double figures in seven of his last 10 games, and has started the last four contests.
- The Commodores are in their 84th season of SEC basketball – Vanderbilt is one of the founding members of the Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt recently won their 700th league game at Florida.
- Making three’s is not a new thing for this year’s Commodore team. Combined in their career, current players have made 757 career threes.
- In SEC play, Vanderbilt has three players in the top 10 in minutes played – Luke Kornet (5th, 33.4), Jeff Roberson (6th, 33.2), and Riley LaChance (T-8th, 32.4).
- Cressler and Kornet combined for 41 points against Iowa State, the second-most points scored by a senior duo in the SEC this year (South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell and Duane Notice’s combined 46 points against Auburn is first).
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 5-2.
Last Meeting: TAMU win, 76-67, on 3/5/16 in College Station.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 4-0.
Record at TAMU: TAMU leads, 2-1.
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Drew vs. TAMU: Coach Drew has never faced Texas A&M.
About Texas A&M
- Texas A&M enters the game Tuesday with an 11-9 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the SEC.
- Center Tyler Davis leads the Aggies in scoring with 14.0 points per game. DJ Hogg (13.1), Admon Gilder (13.1) and Robert Williams (11.0) also average double figures.
- The Commodores own a 5-2 series advantage against the Aggies. Texas A&M leads the series, 2-1, in games played in College Station.
- Vanderbilt sports two starters from the state of Texas – senior center Luke Kornet (Lantana) and junior forward Jeff Roberson (Houston). Clevon Brown, from San Antonio, comes off of the bench for the Commodores.
- The two teams will play twice in the regular season for the second consecutive year.
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 with Iowa State was the 998th regular season game played at Memorial Gym.
The Commodores have a 779-219 record at the SEC’s oldest facility, a winning percentage of .781.
Kornet Moving Up Blocks List
Senior Luke Kornet is now second on the Vanderbilt all-time block list with 176 career blocks and only trails Festus Ezeli on the list. Ezeli, who currently is on the Portland Trail Blazers roster, is the all-time blocks leader with 204 career blocks. Kornet is also third on the blocks per game list with 1.54 in his career. Kornet trails Ezeli and Damian Jones, who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors, on the list (each at 1.69 per game).
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).
700th SEC Win
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 700-689.
985
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 985 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.
Cressler goes for 20
Senior Nolan Cressler scored a season-high 20 points in a win against Iowa State on January 28, his most as a Commodore in two seasons of action after transferring from Cornell. Cressler’s previous high was 14 points, which occurred three times in the 2015-16 season.
Fisher-Davis in Top 10 for 3’s
Matthew Fisher-Davis now has 207 threes in his Vanderbilt career and is in ninth place in career threes made on the Commodores’ all-time list with 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.