Nov. 20, 2008
Vanderbilt 63 – Illinois 69
November 20, 2008 – Memorial Gymnasium
Attendance: 12,630
– Tonight’s game is the first time Vanderbilt has played a Big Ten team since they played Indiana March 16, 2005 in the first round of the NIT. Vanderbilt won the game 67-60 in Bloomington, Ind.
– The last time Vanderbilt played a member of the Big Ten Conference at home was December 6, 2003 when they defeated Michigan 83-63 in Memorial Gym.
– Vanderbilt started center A.J. Ogilvy, forwards Darshawn McClellan and Jeffery Taylor and guards Jermaine Beal and George Drake
– Beal leads the team with 37 career starts, including 33 straight, while Ogilvy made his 35th start.
– George Drake and McClellan made their third career starts, while Taylor made his second start of his career.
– McClellan’s start was his first of the season
– Thursday’s game marks familiar territory between the two head coaches as Vanderbilt’s head coach Kevin Stallings and Illinois’ head coach Bruce Weber were assistant coaches together under legendary Purdue head coach Gene Keady from 1982-88
First Half Notes:
– Illinois won the tip to start the game
– Illinois jumped out to a 7-2 lead through the games first 4:18
– Freshman Festus Ezeli’s jumper in the lane got the `Dores on the board at the 16:48 mark
– Illinois jumped out to a 12-6 lead with Demetri McCarney’s three-pointer at the 13:42 mark.
– With Calvin Brock field goal Illinois took a 19-11 lead with 10:11 to play in the first half. The eight-point lead was the largest of the half for the Illini.
– With Brad Tinsley’s three-pointer at the 8:58 mark in the first half, Vanderbilt extended its streak of consecutive games (700) with a three-pointer, dating back to when the three-point line was established in the 1986-87 season. The Commodores streak ranks second only to UNLV (704) for the longest streak in Division I basketball.
– Vanderbilt went on an 8-0 run to tie the game (19-19) with Darshawn McClellan’s free throw with 7:56 to play.
– Illinois responded with a 5-0 run of their own to take a 24-19 lead with 6:30 remaining in the half.
– Vanderbilt took its first lead of the game with Festus Ezel’s turnaround hook with 3:52 remaining in the half.
– Vanderbilt went on a 14-2 run in to take its first lead of the game (25-24)
– The run expanded Vanderbilt’s lead to a 33-26 advantage with 2:34 to go.
– Festus Ezeli and Andre Walker led Vanderbilt at halftime with seven points each while Ogilvy tallied six
– Vanderbilt outscored Illinois 19-4 in bench points during the first half
– Vanderbilt out rebounded Illinois 20-14 during the first half
– Seven Commodores scored during the first half while Illinois had six
– There were four lead changes during the first half
Second Half Notes:
– Vanderbilt started the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 42-36 lead with 17:39 remaining in the second half.
– After Vanderbilt started the half on a 7-0 run, Illinois responded with 14-8 run to tie the game at 50 with 13:03 remaining
– Vanderbilt went on a 5-0 run and with Ogilvy’s bank-shot in the lane with 9:27 remaining, the Commodores led 57-52.
– Vanderbilt led 57-52 before Illinois went on a 13-1 run to take a 65-58 lead with 4:37 remaining. During the run, Illinois hit three, three-pointers
– Vanderbilt went seven minutes and 14 seconds without a made field goal before Andre Walker’s made basket with 2:13 remaining. During the scoring drought Vanderbilt misfired on all six field goals attempts and made just 1-of-4 free throws in that span.
– Vanderbilt went on 5-0 run to narrow the Illinois lead to two points (65-63) with 1:38 to play
Postgame Notes:
– With the loss, Vanderbilt falls to 1-1 while Illinois improves to 3-0
– Thursday’s loss is the first home loss by Vanderbilt to a non-conference team since November 25, 2006 against Elon (81-70)
– The loss also snaps Vanderbilt home winning streak at 20 games.
– Illinois now leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt, 5-3
– Thursday’s loss at Memorial Gymnasium is Vanderbilt’s first since they fell to Arkansas on March 3, 2007 in Nashville
– The Commodores are now 20-27 all-time against teams from the Big Ten Conference.
– Vanderbilt had four players score in doubles figures (Ogilvy (13), Taylor (11), Tinsley (11) and Walker (10)
– Walker’s 10 points ties his career-high. Walker netted 10 points last season on January 27th against Florida.
– Vanderbilt was 13-21 (62%) from the free-throw line and 4-15 (27%) from beyond the arc, while Illinois 11-11 from the free throw line and 10-19 (53%) from three.
– Vanderbilt was 23-53 (43%) from the field while Illinois was 24-65 (37%) from the floor.
– Vanderbilt was out rebounded 42-33 in the game, including 28-13 in the second half
– Vanderbilt scored 32 points in the paint compared to Illinois’s 18
– Illinois had 20 second chance points compared to five for Vanderbilt
– Vanderbilt had 10 turnovers while Illinois had 12
– Illinois was 8-8 from the free throw line in the second half while Vanderbilt was 6-11 (55%)
– Vanderbilt’s Jeffrey Taylor posted a season-high three steals
– Illinois won the points off of turnovers battle 13-11 over Vanderbilt
