Feb. 16, 2018
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Florida Gamenotes
After a dramatic 81-80 victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday, the Commodores return to the Memorial Gym floor on Saturday to take on the Florida Gators in an afternoon matchup. The game begins at 3 p.m. CT airing live on ESPN, on the radio with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.
The Commodores improved to 10-16 and 4-9 in SEC play after the win over Mississippi State on Wednesday at Memorial Gym in their last time out to give Vanderbilt their fourth consecutive win at home. Riley LaChance scored 16 points, including a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining, to lead the Commodores to the victory. Senior Jeff Roberson tallied his eighth double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds, with Payton Willis adding a season-high 15 points and Joe Toye tying a season-high with 16 points in the win.
News and Notes
– Roberson has averaged 18.5 ppg since Jan. 9; set new career-highs in points (30) and FG made (10) vs. Auburn. LaChance has averaged 18.0 points per game in Vanderbilt’s last eight games.
– Three of the next four games for the Commodores will be at Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt has won their last four games at home (LSU, TCU, Georgia, Mississippi State). In Vanderbilt’s six home league games, the Commodores are averaging 77.7 points per game, converting on 48.0% of their shots from the floor and 40.4% from three.
– Vanderbilt has won five of the last six games against the Gators, with Florida winning the last meeting in Gainesville.
– LaChance tied his career-high with eight assists, the first time a Commodore has dished out eight assists since Payton Willis did it against Santa Clara in Las Vegas on November 25, 2016.
– Freshman Saben Lee now has 32 steals for the season, three more than Roberson’s team-best total for the season in 2016-17 (29).
– LaChance moved up to 19th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list (1,361 points) against Mississippi State, while Roberson moved to 29th on the list with 1,252 points.
– Roberson is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. He is third in the SEC in double-doubles, seventh in the SEC in all games in scoring (16.0), sixth in rebounding (7.2), seventh in free throw percentage (.848) and fourth in defensive rebounding (5.2). In league games, he ranks sixth in scoring (17.5), fifth in FG% (.493) and 10th in defensive rebounding (4.8). Roberson is eighth on Vanderbilt’s all-time total rebounding list with 714, with Bill Depp (1959-61) up next in seventh with 747 career rebounds.
– LaChance is seventh in all games in the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (.404), ninth in 3FG made (2.2) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7), and in league games only, he is fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2), eighth in assists (3.8), ninth in 3FG% (.365) and seventh in 3FG made (2.1).
– Roberson, LaChance and Matthew Fisher-Davis are all members of Vanderbilt’s 1,000-point club. 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.
– LaChance, Roberson, and Fisher-Davis are second, third and fourth, respectively, among current players in the SEC in career scoring. Georgia’s Yante Maten is the conference’s current career leader.
– LaChance, who has 403 career assists, is now eighth on Vanderbilt’s all-time assist list after surpassing Drew Maddux against Georgia (394 career assists). Jermaine Beal is seventh on the list with 421 assists.
– Vanderbilt has scored 81 points in four of their last five games.
– The Commodores have already played nine games this season against a ranked opponent – USC (#10/#10), Virginia (RV/#25), Seton Hall (#20/#20), Arizona State (#5/#6), Tennessee (#24/#23; #22/#21), Kentucky (#21/#20; #21/#22) and Auburn (#11/#13) – the most in the SEC. The four ranked non-conference opponents are 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).
– KenPom.com has Vanderbilt with the number three strength of schedule as of February 16. VU had the strongest schedule in the nation in 2016-17.
Media Information
Vanderbilt (10-16, 4-9) vs. Florida (17-9, 8-5)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Tom Hart (pxp), Sean Farnham (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 138, XM 191
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads 70-64
Last Meeting: UF win, 81-74, in Gainesville on 12/30/17
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads 44-15
Record at Florida: UF leads 43-23
Record at Neutral Site: UF leads 6-3
Coach Drew vs. Florida: Coach Drew is 3-1 against Florida
More on Florida
– Florida enters the game Saturday with a 17-9 overall record and an 8-5 mark in SEC play
– A pair of transfers lead the Gators in scoring – Jalen Hudson (Virginia Tech) averages 15.1 points per game, while Egor Koulechov (Rice) averages 14.2 points per contest. Returning guards Chris Chiozza (11.7) and KeVaughn Allen (11.3) also average double figures.
– Florida won an earlier game between the two schools, 81-74, on December 30 in both teams’ SEC opener. The Gator win snapped a Commodore five-game winning streak in the series. The five-game streak was the longest over the Gators since sweeping three games in 1990 and two games in 1991.
– The first meeting between the two schools came in the 1930-31 season.
A Commodore Win Would…
– Be Vanderbilt’s 11th win of the season at Memorial Gym.
– Be Vanderbilt’s fourth consecutive win at home.
– Give Vanderbilt six wins in their last seven games against the Gators.
Jeff Roberson: Mr. Double-Double
Jeff Roberson has eight double-doubles on the season, the most in a season by a Commodore since Will Perdue had 10 in his junior season (1986-87) and 16 in his senior season (1987-88).
SEC Strength of Schedule
Here’s a look at KenPom’s strength of schedule among league teams (2/16).
1. Vanderbilt, 3
2. Tennessee, 5
3. Texas A&M, 6
4. Kentucky, 7
5. Georgia, 13
6. South Carolina, 15
7. Alabama, 21
8. Florida, 23
9. Missouri, 24
10. Ole Miss, 25
11. LSU, 32
12. Arkansas, 33
13. Auburn, 53
14. Mississippi State, 90
Vanderbilt in 85th SEC Season
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 713-702.
1,025
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 1,025 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.