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SEC play begins Thursday at LSU

Dec. 28, 2016

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With all but one non-conference game in the books, the Commodores begin Southeastern Conference play on Thursday night when they travel to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU, with the action also being heard across the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network and online at vucommodores.com.

Vanderbilt dropped to 6-6 on the season after a 68-63 loss at Dayton on December 21 despite a career-high 25 points from junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis. Fisher-Davis finished 9-18 from the floor and 5-9 from three. Senior guard Nolan Cressler added his second double-figure scoring game of the season with an 11-point performance against the Flyers.

Vanderbilt (6-6) vs. LSU (8-3)
Baton Rouge, La. – Pete Maravich Assembly Center – 8 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Kevin Fitzgerald (play by play), Chris Spatola (Color)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: XM 119, Sirius 380
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB

Anchor Points

  • Vanderbilt dropped to 0-2 in true road games this season and shot 35.4% from the field and 29.0% from three against the Flyers.
  • Vanderbilt outrebounded Dayton, 44-38, and 15-11 on the offensive glass; the Commodores are now 5-2 on the season when outrebounding an opponent. The Commodores were a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.
  • Vanderbilt committed 13 turnovers against Dayton, and the Flyers converted those turnovers into a 21-10 advantage in points off of turnovers.
  • The Commodores will begin their 84th season of SEC basketball on Thursday – Vanderbilt is one of the founding members of the Southeastern Conference.
  • Vanderbilt’s meeting with LSU will be the 114th in the overall series, with the Commodores holding a 60-53 advantage in the series. However, the Tigers have won four consecutive games in the series.
  • The Commodores’ first meeting with the Tigers came in the 1922-23 season.
  • VU has played a very difficult schedule so far, having faced three of the top 18 teams in the RPI so far this season (Butler, 10; Minnesota, 12, Middle Tennessee, 18).
  • Vanderbilt leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (39.1%), in threes made (9.4) and free throw percentage (79.1%).
  • Fisher-Davis leads the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game, while Kornet adds 12.7 points, and Roberson 10.8.
  • Riley LaChance leads the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (60.0%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3). He is also tied for fifth in the league in assists (4.4) and tied for 10th in three’s made (2.0).
  • Fisher-Davis ranks eighth in the SEC in scoring, second in the league in three’s made (2.8), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.423), and sixth in free throw percentage (.878). Roberson ranks third in the SEC in defensive rebounding and seventh in rebounding (7.4). Kornet is tied for fifth in the SEC in blocks (2.0) and 10th in free throw percentage (.855).
  • Matthew Fisher-Davis has scored in double figures in 10 games, Roberson nine, Luke Kornet seven, and Riley LaChance in five.
  • Chattanooga was the Commodores’ fourth non-conference opponent of the season from the state of Tennessee. Vanderbilt has also played Belmont, Tennessee State, and Middle Tennessee and compiled a 3-1 record against the four teams.
  • The Commodores have had four four-point play attempts this season.
  • Freshman guard Payton Willis has started in seven consecutive games, beginning with the game against Santa Clara. Against the Broncos, Willis had a career-high eight assists. It was the most by a Commodore since Wade Baldwin IV had eight assists against Tennessee on March 10, 2016. Willis scored a career-high 17 points vs. Butler, and scored 13 against High Point.

Series Information
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 60-53.
Last Meeting: LSU win, 90-82, on 1/2/16 in Nashville.
Record at Vanderbilt: VU leads, 34-16.
Record at LSU: LSU leads, 30-21.
Record at Neutral Site: LSU leads, 7-5.
Coach Drew vs. LSU: Coach Drew has never faced LSU.

About LSU

  • LSU enters the game with an 8-3 overall record.
  • Antonio Blakeney leads the Tigers in scoring with 16.4 points per game. Duop Reath (15.0), Brandon Sampson (12.1), and Craig Victor II (10.5) also average double figures.
  • Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with the Tigers, 60-53, but LSU has won four consecutive games in the series, dating back to Feb. 8, 2012, when the Commodores won, 76-61 at Memorial Gym.
  • The Commodores last won at the PMAC on Feb. 26, 2011, in a 90-69 win.
  • Vanderbilt Director of Recruiting and Player Personel Omar Mance played at LSU under John Brady in the 1998-99 season.
  • 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).

VU Staff Can Score
The Vanderbilt men’s basketball staff has combined to score a total of 5,486 collegiate points, with head coach Bryce Drew leading the way with 2,142 points. Here’s a breakdown of the staff’s scoring totals.
Head Coach Bryce Drew, Valparaiso=2,142
Asst. Coach Casey Shaw, Toledo=1,562
Assoc. Head Coach Roger Powell, Jr., Illinois=1,178
Asst. Coach Jake Diebler, Valparaiso=586
Total=5,468

Kornet Excels in Classroom
Senior center Luke Kornet has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in the three years he has played at Vanderbilt, and also been named a CoSida All-District Academic Selection in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Kornet is double majoring in computer science and mathematics.

Commodores vs. SEC
Vanderbilt is in its 84th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 697-685.

976
Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 976 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank second only to UNLV 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.

NBA Commodores
Vanderbilt was one of only three schools (Kentucky, Washington) with two first-round selections in the 2016 NBA Draft when Wade Baldwin IV was drafted 17th by the Memphis Grizzlies and Damian Jones was selected 30th by the Golden State Warriors. Baldwin IV and Jones became the sixth and seventh first-round picks, respectively, in the history of the program, joining Will Perdue in 1988 (11th, Chicago), Jeff Turner in 1984 (7th, New Jersey), Clyde Lee in 1966 (3rd, San Francisco), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta), and Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State) in 2012.

Memorial Gym close to 1,000
The matchup with Chattanooga was the 993rd regular season game played at Memorial Gym.

The Commodores have a 777-216 record at the SEC’s oldest facility, a winning percentage of .782.

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