NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s basketball team returns home for their final game before the holiday break when they welcome UNC Wilmington to Memorial Gym for a Saturday night tilt. The game will begin at 7 p.m., with the game being aired online on SEC Network+. Commodore fans can also tune into the game on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on WLAC 1510 AM and 98.3 FM, and online on VUCommodores.com and the VUCommodores app.
Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters
• The Commodores dropped to 6-4 on the season after falling to Loyola (Chicago), 78-70, at the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase in Phoenix. Sophomore Aaron Nesmith scored 23 points to lead Vanderbilt. Junior Saben Lee chipped in 18 points, and freshman Scottie Pippen Jr. added 13 points.
• Commodore head coach Jerry Stackhouse is from Kinston, N.C., about a 90 minute drive from Wilmington.
• As of Dec. 19, Nesmith is second in the nation in 3’s made per game (4.0), and leads the SEC. He also leads the SEC in scoring (22.4) and is ninth nationally in that category. Nesmith also ranks second in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage (.476) and eighth in the SEC in field goal percentage (.510).
• Nesmith (22.4) and Lee (17.3) are the third-highest-scoring duo in the nation behind Hampton’s Jermaine Marrow (24.9) and Ben Stanley (19.5) and Texas-San Antonio’s Jhivvan Jackson (25.5) and Keaton Wallace (16.1).
• Nesmith and Lee have scored in double figures in every game this season. Nesmith has scored 20 or more in seven Vanderbilt games this season, Lee in three games.
• As of Dec. 19, Lee is sixth (17.3) in scoring, fourth in assists per game (5.6), 8th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7), ninth in total free throws made (39), sixth in free throws attempted (53), and seventh in field goal percentage (.513) in the SEC.
• Lee claimed SEC Player of the Week honors after his performance against Buffalo a week ago, becoming the first Commodore to win the award since Jeff Roberson on Feb. 19, 2018. Lee joins Scotty Pippen Jr. as weekly honorees from the SEC this season. Pippen Jr. was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 25 when he averaged 17 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game in two Commodore wins over Austin Peay and South Carolina State, respectively.
• Other Commodores ranked in the top 10 in the SEC include Pippen Jr. (10th, assists/game, 4.4; 10th, ATO ratio, 1.6) and Clevon Brown (4th, blocks/game, 2.0; 9th, offensive rebounds/game, 2.4).
• Brown is out indefinitely with a knee injury he suffered against Liberty.
• Commodore Chief of Staff Adell Harris coached the women’s team at UNC Wilmington from 2012-17.
• Nesmith tallied a career-high 34 points in an overtime loss at Richmond on Nov. 14. It was the most points by a Vanderbilt player since Shan Foster vs. Miss. State (3/5/08), and the most points by a Vanderbilt player on the road since Billy McCaffrey at Georgia (35, 2/24/93).
• New head coach Jerry Stackhouse is the 28th men’s basketball coach in the history of Vanderbilt basketball. He is the first African American Commodore men’s basketball head coach and is one of two current African American head coaches in the Southeastern Conference (Cuonzo Martin, Missouri).
• As a team, the Commodores are first in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage (.370) and second in threes made/game (9.5) and total threes made (95) . Vanderbilt is also third in field goal percentage (.473).
• A season ago, no Commodore had more than seven assists in a game. This season, it has been done four times by Saben Lee and once by Scotty Pippen Jr.
• Saben Lee was one of seven major conference underclassmen in 2018-19 with 400+ points, 100+ rebounds and 100+ assists, and was the only one in the SEC. (Terence Davis and Grant Williams were the only others in the SEC to reach those numbers.)
• The Commodores are one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a three-point basket since the inception of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
With a made three against UNC Wilmington, Vanderbilt will move to 1,075 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
• The Commodores have had five first-round NBA Draft picks since 2012, the second-most in the SEC in that time span – Darius Garland (5th, Cleveland Cavaliers), Wade Baldwin IV (17th, Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Jones (30th, Golden State Warriors), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta) and Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State). Garland, Jones, and former standout Luke Kornet (Chicago Bulls) are all active players in the NBA.
Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt – W, 90-71
Dec. 5, 1991 – Nashville, Tenn.
At Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt leads, 1-0
Jerry Stackhouse vs. UNC Wilmington: First meeting
Media Information
Vanderbilt vs. UNC Wilmington
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network+
TV Talent: Kevin Ingram (pxp), Shan Foster (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from Learfield/IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: VandyStats.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Notes: @VandyNotes
