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MBB welcomes LSU to Memorial Saturday

Jan. 19, 2018

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The Commodores’ men’s basketball team returns home to the friendly confines of Memorial Gym to take on LSU this Saturday afternoon. The game begins at 12 p.m. CT, with the game airing live on the SEC Network, on the radio with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network, and online on vucommodores.com.

Vanderbilt returns home after falling to 6-12 on the season and 1-5 in SEC play after losing to Mississippi State in Starkville, 80-62, Tuesday night. Freshman center Ejike Obinna led the Commodores with a career-high 14 points in a career-best 22 minutes. Senior Jeff Roberson also added double figures with 10 points.

Media Information
Vanderbilt (6-12, 1-5) vs. LSU (11-6, 2-3)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 12 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Mike Morgan (pxp), Dane Bradshaw (talent)
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

Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 61-53.
Last Meeting: VU win, 96-89, on 12/29/16 in Baton Rouge.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 34-16.
Record at LSU: LSU leads, 30-22.
Record at Neutral Site: LSU leads, 7-5.
Coach Drew vs. LSU: Coach Drew is 1-0 all-time against LSU.

Roberson Leads Commodores
Jeff Roberson is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder in all games, averaging 14.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Roberson is second in the SEC in double doubles, fifth in the SEC in all games in rebounding, fifth in free throw percentage, and second in defensive rebounding. In league games only, he is fifth in field goal percentage (.492).

Two Top SEC Freshmen in Action
In five league games, Saben Lee is the conference’s second leading freshman scorer with 15.3 points per game. LSU freshman Tremont Waters is third among freshman in SEC games only with 14.4 points per game.

Commodores Have Played Most Ranked Opponents in SEC
The Commodores have already played six ranked opponents this season in USC (#10/#10), Virginia (RV/#25), Seton Hall (#20/#20), Arizona State (#5/#6), Tennessee (#24/#23), and Kentucky (#21/#20) the most in the SEC. The four ranked non-conference opponents is the most by a Commodore team since 1988, when Vanderbilt also played four (11/22 – # 2 Michigan, L, 66-91; 11/27 – #16 Ohio State, L, 82-97; 11/30 – #13 Louisville, W, 65-62; 12/7 – #8 North Carolina, L, 77-89).

More on LSU

  • LSU enters the game with a 11-6 overall mark and a 2-3 record in the SEC after a recent 61-60 loss to Georgia on January 16 in Baton Rouge.
  • Freshman Tremont Waters is the team’s leading scorer with 16.3 points per game. Duop Reath (12.4), Skyiar Mays (11.6), and Aaron Epps (10.3) also average double figures.
  • The Commodores snapped a five game losing streak to LSU last year when they knocked off the Tigers, 96-89, on December 29, 2016, at the PMAC. Vanderbilt has not defeated LSU at Memorial Gym since a 76-61 win on Feb. 8, 2012.
  • Head coach Bryce Drew was born in Baton Rouge (Sept. 21, 1974) during the time his father Homer was an assistant coach to LSU legend Dale Brown (1972-76).
  • LSU head coach Will Wade is a Nashville native who attended Franklin Road Academy in Nashville.

A Commodore Win Would…

  • End a four-game losing streak.
  • Be Vanderbilt’s seventh win of the season at Memorial Gym.
  • Be first win over LSU at Memorial Gym since the 2012 SEC season.

Jeff Roberson: Mr Double-Double
Jeff Roberson has six double doubles on the season, the most in a season by a Commodore since Damian Jones had seven in the 2015-16 season. Seven is also the most by a Commodore since Will Perdue had 10 in his junior season (1986-87) and 16 in his senior season (1987-88).

Vanderbilt Quick Hitters

  • Roberson eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier in his career with his 21-point game against Alcorn State. He joins two other 1,000-point scorers on this year’s roster – Riley LaChance and Matthew Fisher-Davis. There has been only one other class of Vanderbilt players to have three 1,000-point scorers – the vaunted “F Troop” – Butch Feher, Joe Ford, and Jeff Fosnes in 1976.
  • Matthew Fisher Davis adds 11.9 points per game, Saben Lee averages 10.9 points, and Riley LaChance pitches in 10.6 points per game.
  • Fisher-Davis has 1,219 points and LaChance has 1,217 career points, and are 29th and 30th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list, respectively, and are second and third among current players in SEC in scoring. Georgia’s Yante Maten is the conference’s current career leader.
  • Fisher-Davis is 10th in the SEC in 3’s made with 2.2 in all games.
  • LaChance, who has 372 career assists, is now 9th on Vanderbilt’s all-time assist list after surpassing Al McKinney against Florida (351 career assists). Drew Maddux is eighth on the list with 394 assists.
  • The Commodores have used 10 different starting lineups this season, with their 10th coming against Mississippi State (Lee, LaChance, Willis, Roberson, Baptiste).
  • The Commodores have already played six ranked opponents this season in USC (#10/#10), Virginia (RV/#25), Seton Hall (#20/#20), Arizona State (#5/#6), Tennessee (#24/#23), and Kentucky (#21/#20) the most in the SEC. The four ranked non-conference opponents is the most by a Commodore team since 1988, when Vanderbilt also played four (11/22 – # 2 Michigan, L, 66-91; 11/27 – #16 Ohio State, L, 82-97; 11/30 – #13 Louisville, W, 65-62; 12/7 – #8 North Carolina, L, 77-89).
  • This season’s non-conference schedule features eight games against teams who played in the postseason a year ago. Five opponents, USC, Seton Hall, Virginia, Kansas State, and Middle Tennessee, all played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, with NIT participant Belmont, 2017 NIT Champion TCU, and CollegeInsider.com Tournament team UNC Asheville also on the challenging slate. KenPom.com has Vanderbilt’s strength of schedule at 6 as of January 18.
  • Commodore head coach Bryce Drew, now in his second season, led the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in his first season in Nashville, marking the first time in the history of the program a first-year Vanderbilt coach led his team to the tournament. Overall, the Commodores made their 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first back-to-back appearances since making three consecutive tournaments from 2010-12.

SEC Strength of Schedule
Here’s a look at KenPom’s strength of schedule among league teams (1/15).
1. Tennessee , 3
2. Vanderbilt, 6
3. Alabama, 11
4. Texas A&M, 12
5. Arkansas, 15
6. Florida, 16
7. Kentucky, 17
8. Georgia, 36
9. Missouri, 38
10. S. Carolina, 46
11. Ole Miss, 56
12. Auburn, 72
13. LSU, 81
14. Miss. St., 276

700th SEC Win
Vanderbilt is in its 85th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 710-698.

1,017
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 1,017 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank third only to UNLV and Kentucky 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.