Feb. 27, 2017
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Kentucky Gamenotes
The Commodores won their fourth consecutive game on Saturday after defeating Mississippi State, 77-48, at Memorial Gym. Junior forward Jeff Roberson scored a career-high 23 points and made a career-best five threes in the victory. Junior Riley LaChance added 11 points and senior Luke Kornet chipped in 10 points.
Vanderbilt held the Bulldogs to their lowest point total of the season. The Commodores have held their last two opponents to their lowest totals of the season (Tennessee, 56; Mississippi State 48).
Defense has been the calling card for Vanderbilt during their winning streak – the Commodores have held opponents to 58.2 points per game in the streak, and limited opponents to 35.8% from the floor and 23.3% from three.
The Commodores made 14 threes against the Bulldogs, the 14th time this season Vanderbilt has made 10 or more threes (11-3 record in those games).
Vanderbilt (16-13, 9-7 SEC) vs. #9/9 Kentucky (24-5, 14-2 SEC)
Lexington, Ky. – Rupp Arena – 8 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Joe Tessitore (pxp), Sean Farnham (analyst), Kaylee Hartung (sidelines)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 137, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Anchor Points
- Vanderbilt has five road wins in league play this year, the most by a Vanderbilt team since winning six league road games in 2010.
- Kentucky will be the fourth ranked opponent this season for the Commodores, and the second on the road. Vanderbilt won their only other road meeting against a ranked opponent, when VU defeated #19/21 Florida, 68-66, in Gainesville on January 21. Vanderbilt has a 2-1 record against ranked opponents this season.
- All-time, Vanderbilt has a 92-227 record against ranked opponents and a 20-136 record against ranked opponents on the road.
- This will be the 189th meeting between the two schools. Kentucky is Vanderbilt’s second-most played opponent in the history of the program (Tennessee is first).
- Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (38.4%), threes made (10.0) and free throw percentage (77.2%) in all games. In league games only, the Commodores are second in free throw percentage (75.4%) and first in threes made (10.3). As of February 27th, the Commodores rank 11th nationally in free-throw percentage and are 12th in 3’s made per game.
- As of February 27, the Commodores have the fourth toughest overall schedule and toughest non-conference schedule in the nation according to the NCAA RPI, and the number one non-conference strength of schedule.
- Overall rankings according on February 27 – RPI – 48; KenPom – 43; ESPN BPI – 51.
- In SEC play, Kornet is ranked in six different categories – rebounding (9th, 6.8), 3FG% (8th, .390), 3FG made (10th, 2.0), blocks (3rd, 2.3), defensive rebounding (5th, 5.1), and minutes played (9th, 32.9).
- Forward Jeff Roberson ranks seventh in the SEC in rebounding (7.2) in all games and eighth (6.9) in league games only, and is fourth in the league in defensive rebounding (5.2) in all games and seventh in league games only (4.8).
- In 16 SEC games, the Commodores have three players who are in the top 10 in three-point field goal percentage, with junior Riley LaChance leading the way for Vanderbilt at 42.9%, which ranks third. Kornet is 8th in the conference at 39.0% in league games only, while Matthew Fisher-Davis is 10th at 35.8% in league games only. Fisher-Davis is second in league games only in 3’s made (2.5), LaChance eighth (2.1) and Kornet 10th (2.0)
- Making three’s is not a new thing for this year’s Commodore team. Combined in their career, current players have made 839 career threes.
- Riley LaChance is shooting 49.1% from three for the season and leads the SEC in 3FG% in all games. He is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2), seventh in the league in assists (4.1), and ninth in three’s made (2.0) in all games.
- Fisher-Davis is fourth in 3FG% in all games (38.9%) and second in threes made (2.6).
Series Information
Series Record: UK leads, 141-47.
Last Meeting: UK win, 87-81, on 1/10/17 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: UK leads 53-27.
Record at Kentucky: UK leads 83-15.
Record at Neutral Site: Tied at 5.
Coach Drew vs. Kentucky: Coach Drew is 0-1 against Kentucky.
About Kentucky
- Kentucky enters the game with a 24-5 overall record and a 14-2 mark in SEC play.
- Freshman Malik Monk leads the team in scoring with 21.5 points per game. DeAaron Fox (15.5), Isaiah Briscoe (13.3) and Bam Adebayo (13.2) also average double figures.
- This will be the 189th meeting between the two schools, with Kentucky holding a 141-47 advantage in the series. The Wildcats are 83-15 all-time against the Commodores in Lexington, and 37-2 against Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena. Vanderbilt’s only wins came at Rupp came in 2006 and 2007.
- Senior Luke Kornet was born in Lexington, Ky.
- Freshman Payton Willis and Wildcat Malik Monk both hail from the state of Arkansas. Monk was the top-ranked prospect coming out of the state in the class of 2016, with Willis ranked second.
Dores Have Nation’s Toughest Non-Conference Schedule
The Commodores have the fourth-toughest overall schedule and the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation according to the NCAA RPI and Jerry Palm.
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 Moving Up Blocks List
Senior Luke Kornet is now second on the Vanderbilt all-time block list with 200 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 1.65 in his career. Kornet trails Ezeli and Damian Jones, who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors, on the list (each at 1.64 per game).
Kornet NCAA leader in 3’s made by a seven-footer
Kornet is now the NCAA career three-pointers made leader with 143, surpassing Vanderbilt’s own David Przybyszewski, who has 131 career threes. Only two other seven footers have more than 100 – Derek Silvig of Montana (106) and Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin (103).
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 706-691.
993
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 993 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 224 threes in his Vanderbilt career and is in ninth place in career threes made on the Commodores’ all-time list.
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.