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MBB travels to LSU Tuesday

Feb. 19, 2018

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After two consecutive wins over Mississippi State and Florida last week, the Commodores hit the road Tuesday to play their second game of the year against the LSU Tigers. The game begins at 8 p.m. CT airing live on the SEC Network, on the radio with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.

The Commodores improved to 11-16 on the season and 5-9 in SEC play after a 71-68 win over Florida at Memorial Gym on Saturday afternoon in their last time out. Senior Jeff Roberson scored a game-high 26 points, including posting a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, to lead Vanderbilt in the victory. Fellow senior Riley LaChance also added 21 points, while junior Joe Toye chipped in 13 points in the win.

Roberson named SEC Player of the Week
Roberson was named the SEC Player of the Week for his performance last week in two Vanderbilt wins. The 6’6 forward from Houston averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists for the week.

News and Notes

  • Vanderbilt has won two straight games and their last five at Memorial Gym after the Florida win.
  • Roberson was named the SEC Player of the Week for his performance last week in two Vanderbilt wins. The 6’6 forward from Houston averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists for the week.
  • The Commodores are looking for their first win of the season away from Memorial Gym (0-9 on the road; 0-2 neutral).
  • Vanderbilt has two games left at Memorial Gym (Texas A&M and Missouri) and two on the road (at LSU and at Ole Miss).
  • Junior Joe Toye has had a solid five-game stretch for the Commodores, averaging 13.8 points per game and tying a season-high of 16 points on two occasions in that span (at Kentucky, vs. Mississippi State).
  • Vanderbilt won their first game of the season when trailing with two minutes remaining in the game (1-15 record).
  • Roberson has scored 20 or more points in 11 games this year and LaChance in five.
  • 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). Lee is 10th in the SEC in steals (1.2).
  • LaChance is now 19th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list (1,382 points), while Roberson is 27th on the list with 1,278 points.
  • Roberson is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. Roberson is third in the SEC in double-doubles, fifth in the SEC in all games in scoring (16.6), fifth in rebounding (7.2), third in free throw percentage (.860) and second in defensive rebounding (5.3). In league games, he ranks third in scoring (18.1), fifth in FG% (.497), ninth in rebounding (6.6) and fifth in defensive rebounding (5.0). Roberson is eighth on Vanderbilt’s all-time total rebounding list with 721, 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), 10th in 3FG made (2.2) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6), and in league games only, he is sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2), seventh in assists (3.9), ninth in 3FG% (.367) and eighth 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 SEC in career scoring. Georgia’s Yante Maten is the conference’s current career leader.
  • LaChance, who has 408 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.
  • 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 on February 19. VU had the strongest schedule in the nation in 2016-17.

Vanderbilt (11-16, 5-9) vs. LSU (15-11, 6-8)
Baton Rouge, La. – Pete Maravich Assembly Center – 8 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Dave Neal (pxp), Daymeon Fishback (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, 62-53
Last Meeting: VU win, 77-71, on 1/20/18 in Nashville
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 35-16
Record at LSU: LSU leads, 30-22
Record at Neutral Site: LSU leads, 7-5
Coach Drew vs. LSU: Coach Drew is 2-0 all-time against LSU

More on LSU

  • LSU enters the game with a 15-11 overall mark and a 6-8 record in the SEC after a recent 64-63 win over Missouri on Saturday in Baton Rouge.
  • Vanderbilt won an earlier meeting between the two schools on January 20 in Nashville, 77-71.
  • Freshman Tremont Waters is the team’s leading scorer with 14.7 points per game. Duop Reath (13.5) and Skylar Mays (11.0) 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 defeated LSU earlier this season for the first win at Memorial Gym against the Tigers 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).

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, 4
3. Texas A&M, 5
4. Kentucky, 9
5. Georgia, 12
6. Alabama, 16
7. South Carolina, 17
8. Ole Miss, 18
9. Florida, 20
10. Missouri, 21
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 714-702.

1,026
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 1,026 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.