March 8, 2017
Vanderbilt basketball will be making their 56th appearance in the SEC Tournament this Thursday when they take on Texas A&M at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville. The game will tip at 6 p.m. CT and will air nationally on the SEC Network, with game audio available on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
The Commodores enter the SEC Tournament as the number seven seed and the winners of five of their last six games after a 73-71 win over #12-ranked Florida in the regular season finale at Memorial Gym. Senior Luke Kornet tied a career high with 24 points to lead Vanderbilt with three other players also scoring in double figures – Jeff Roberson (15), Riley LaChance (13), and Nolan Cressler (13).
Vanderbilt tied their lowest output of the season for threes in a game with 5 against the Gators (5 of 22), but managed to come away with the win. The Commodores swept Florida for the second consecutive season.
Commodores Resume entering SEC Tournament
- Entering the game Thursday, Vanderbilt has the toughest schedule in the nation and the second-toughest non-conference schedule, according to the RPI.
- Vanderbilt has five top-50 wins and 11 top-100 victories, the overall toughest strength of schedule overall in the nation, and were the only SEC team to sweep Florida. The Commodores have the third-most top 50 wins in SEC – only UK (7) and Florida (6) have more.
- The Commodores posted their most road SEC wins since 2010.
- Four of 10 SEC wins came against top 4 teams in the league.
- Vanderbilt has won five of their last six, six of their last eight, and eight of their last 11. Five of last 9 wins have come against projected NCAA tournament teams.
- Overall rankings on March 7: RPI – 44; KenPom – 40; ESPN BPI – 49.
Kornet wins a trio of SEC honors
Luke Kornet was named a first-team All-SEC selection by the league’s coaches and was also named to the All-Defensive team for the second consecutive season on Tuesday. Kornet’s first-team honor is the program’s 58th selection since 1949 and his first appearance on the first team. Kornet is the third Commodore player to be named to the All-Defensive team (Damian Jones, Jeffery Taylor others), and the second player to be named to the team multiple times (Taylor – 2010-12). He also claimed the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, the first Commodore men’s basketball player to claim the honor. Earlier in the month, Kornet was named a second-team Academic All-American by CoSida.
The Commodores and the SEC Tournament
- The Commodores and Aggies will meet for the first time in the SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt won both meetings between the two schools this season and the Commodores have a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series.
- Vanderbilt has not defeated a team three times in a season since beating Georgia three times in 2012.
- The Commodores have not won a game at Bridgestone Arena since a 64-48 win over Kentucky on March 15, 2013 in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals (0-2 since then with both losses coming to Tennessee in the ’15 and ’16 SEC Tournaments). That was also Vanderbilt’s last win in the SEC Tournament (0-4 since then).
- In all, Vanderbilt is making its 56th appearance in the SEC Tournament. VU has reached the semifinals 13 times and the finals twice. VU’s two trips to the finals have both resulted in SEC Tournament Titles, which came in 1951 with a 61-57 win over Kentucky and in 2012 in a 71-64 win over the Wildcats.
- Vanderbilt will be the #7 seed at the 2017 SEC Tournament in Bridgestone Arena. It is the seventh time in the Commodores have been the overall 7th seed in the SEC Tournament (4-6 record).
- The Commodores own a 37-53 all-time mark at the SEC Tournament.
- The SEC Tournament returns to Nashville this week for the ninth time in tournament history and the third consecutive season. The Commodores have hosted the tournament at Memorial Gym twice in 1984 (1-1) and 1991 (0-1), and the event has been held at the now-Bridgestone Arena in 2001 (0-1), 2006 (1-1), 2010 (1-1), 2013 (2-1), 2014 (0-1), and 2015 (0-1). All-time in games played in Nashville, the Commodores are 5-8.
Vanderbilt (17-14, 10-8 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (16-14, 8-10 SEC)
Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena – 6 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Tom Hart (pxp), Jon Sundvold (analyst), Laura Rutledge (sidelines)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 134, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Commodores and the SEC
- Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (38.0%), threes made (9.9) and free throw percentage (77.0%) in all games. In league games only, the Commodores finished third in free throw percentage (75.3%) and first in threes made (10.1). As of March 8, the Commodores rank 13th nationally in free-throw percentage and are 15th in 3’s made per game.
- In SEC play this season, Kornet was ranked in seven different categories – rebounding (9th, 6.7), free throw % (5th, .864), 3FG% (7th, .378), 3FG made (8th, 2.1), blocks (3rd, 2.2), defensive rebounding (5th, 5.0), and minutes played (7th, 33.1).
- Forward Jeff Roberson ranks seventh in the SEC in rebounding (7.1) in all games and finished eighth (6.8) 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 SEC play this season, Vanderbilt had three players in the top 10 in 3FG% – LaChance (2nd, .447), Kornet (7th, .378), and Matthew Fisher-Davis (10th, .336). Fisher-Davis is fifth in league games only in 3’s made (2.2), Kornet seventh (2.1) and LaChance 9th (2.0)
- Riley LaChance is shooting 49.2% from three for the season and is third in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and seventh in the league in assists (4.0).
- Fisher-Davis is fourth in 3FG% in all games (37.6%) and second in threes made (2.5).
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 7-2.
Last Meeting: VU win, 72-67, on 2/16/17 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 5-0.
Record at TAMU: Tied at 2.
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Drew vs. TAMU: Coach Drew is 2-0 against Texas A&M.
About Texas A&M
- Texas A&M enters the game Thursday with a 16-14 overall record and an 8-10 mark in the SEC.
- Center Tyler Davis leads the Aggies in scoring with 14.0 points per game. Admon Gilder (13.8) and Robert Williams (12.0) also average double figures.
- The Commodores own a 7-2 series advantage against the Aggies, including two victories this season. The two teams have never met in the SEC Tournament.
- The Commodores won earlier meetings with the Aggies, 68-54, on January 31 in College Station and 72-67 on February 16 at Memorial Gym.
- 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, and redshirt freshman center Djery Baptiste, attended high school in Texas (Prestonwood in Plano, Texas).
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 203 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 148, 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.
Kornet named Academic All-American
Senior center Luke Kornet has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a CoSida All-District Academic Selection in the three years he has played at Vanderbilt, and was named a CoSida 2nd Team Academic All-American on March 2nd for his work in the classroom.
Kornet joins only four other Commodore players to make either the first or second team – Jeff Fosnes (1st team, 1975, 1976), Bruce Elder (2nd team, 1992; 1st team, 1993), Steve Grant (2nd team, 1991), and Frank Seckar (2nd team, 1996).
Kornet is majoring in engineering, computer science, and mathematics.
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 707-692.
995
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 995 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.