Take Two with Tennessee

Reconnaissance

• This will be the 201st all-time meeting between these programs.
• Tennessee leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt, 125-75, and Tennessee has won seven straight overall.
• Vanderbilt’s last win in the series was Feb. 22, 2017, 67-56, in Knoxville.
• Vanderbilt is 54-43 all-time at home against the Volunteers.

Alabama Debrief

• Vanderbilt used its 12th different starting lineup. Braelee Albert started his first game of the season alongside Scotty Pippen Jr., Dylan Disu, Jordan Wright and Maxwell Evans.
• 13 different Commodores have started a game.
• Scotty Pippen Jr. is the only Commodore to start every game this season and has started 32 in a row.
• Dylan Disu became the first Commodore with back-to-back double-doubles since Simi Shittu in November 2018.
• “It’s a good learning experience for us playing the No. 8 team in the country,” head coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “I think it’s a confidence-builder. Even though we didn’t beat them to know that all these rankings and all this different stuff it doesn’t matter. We know that we’re very, very capable and we just got to keep building and taking these experiences and learning from them.”

Infirmary

• Clevon Brown was unavailable for Saturday’s game at Alabama. Brown had started the previous three, but has missed seven games this season due to injury or illness.
• In all this season, Vanderbilt has had 11 players injured for a total of 44 missed games: Disu (1), Odusipe (2), Wright (2), Harvey (2), Millora-Brown (3), Weikert (3), McBride (3), Stute (4), Brown (7), Albert (7), Lawrence (10).

Ranking History

• Vanderbilt’s last Top 25 win was against No. 18 LSU at Memorial Gymnasium, 99-90, on Feb. 5, 2020. It was Coach Stackhouse’s first career SEC victory.
• Vanderbilt has lost the last five against a ranked Tennessee team, dating back to an 85-76 road win on Jan. 27, 2010, and is 12-18 all-time against a ranked Tennessee.

Trending Dores

• Seven of Vanderbilt’s 10 SEC losses this season are by a combined 30 points.
• The last five losses have all been by seven points or fewer (seven, three, six, four and four points).
• In the last five games, Dylan Disu is averaging a double-double with 17.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, and is shooting 50 percent from the field (31 of 62).
• Also in the last five games, Maxwell Evans is shooting 54.2 percent from three-point range (13 of 24).

Keys to Victory

• In four of five SEC wins under Coach Stackhouse, Vanderbilt has eclipsed the 80-point mark. In all, Vanderbilt has hit the 80-point mark 14 times in the Coach Stackhouse era with a 11-3 record in those games, including 11-1 in regulation (only regulation loss was Jan. 9, 2021 against Mississippi State, 84-81).
• Vanderbilt is 6-2 when tied or leading at the half and 0-10 when trailing at the break this season.
• Vanderbilt is 4-3 when scoring 75 or more and 2-9 when scoring less than 75 this season.
• Maxwell Evans is averaging 12.2 points per game in Vanderbilt’s wins and just 5.4 points in losses.
• The Commodores are 0-7 during the week this season.

Fire Away

• The Commodores rank second in the SEC in made 3s per game (9.2). Vanderbilt has made at least four 3s in 33 consecutive games. The streak began immediately after the Commodores were held without a 3 for the first time in 1,080 games against Tennessee on Jan. 25, 2020.

Disu-per Man

• Dylan Disu was named SEC Player of the Week on Monday after a pair of double-doubles where he averaged 23.0 points and 15.5 rebounds last week. He is Vandy’s first SEC Player of the Week since Saben Lee was honored in the final week of last season.
• Disu leads the SEC in rebounding with 9.2 per game, and ranks sixth among all power conference players this season. He is also tops in the SEC in defensive rebounding at 6.9 per game (next closest SEC player is LSU’s Trendon Watford at 5.3 per game).
• Disu is also fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.492) and 10th in scoring (15.0).
• Disu has six double-doubles this season, eclipsing his total of five from last season (11 for his career).

Pippen Points

• Not only is Scotty Pippen Jr. second in the SEC with 20.5 points per game, he is also second in the league with 5.2 assists per game. He is one of just four players in the nation averaging more than 20.0 points and 5.0 assists per game—and one of just three power conference players.
• Pippen is 12th in the nation with 106 made free throws.
• Pippen has scored at least 20+ points nine times and 30+ points twice, including a career-high 32 at Florida.
• Pippen has tied or matched his career-high point total five different times this season. He has led the team in scoring 10 times, while also leading the Dores in assists 14 times in 18 games.

Pippen Points Part II

• Pippen, who was named preseason All-SEC second team, scored at least 15 points in 11 straight games from Dec. 13 – Jan. 30­—the longest streak by a Vanderbilt player since John Jenkins in 2011-12 (19 straight).
• Also earlier this season, against Kentucky and Mississippi State, Pippen became the first Commodore since 2000 with 8 or more assists in back-to-back games, and was the first Commodore since 2005 with 12 assists in a game (Mario Moore) as well as the first Commodore since 2015 to record a double-double with points and assists (Wade Baldwin IV).
• Pippen was the first Commodore in five years with 5+ assists in four straight games (Wade Baldwin IV did so in four consecutive SEC games in February 2016).

Training Time

• With eight new players this season, Vanderbilt didn’t have much tune-up before SEC play. The Commodores played just six nonconference games­—its fewest since 1952-53 (the first season Memorial Gymnasium opened). At that time, Tulane and Georgia Tech were still in the SEC.
• This will mark the first time Vanderbilt has played fewer than 30 regular season games since 2005-06 when the Commodores went 16-11 (7-9) prior to the SEC Tournament.

Looking Astern

• Vanderbilt went toe to toe with SEC-leader and eighth-ranked Alabama on Saturday, but the Commodores came up just short in a 82-78 defeat inside Coleman Coliseum.
• Vandy held a two-point lead late before Alabama scored seven quick points to regain control 70-65 with 4:21 to play. Alabama made its free throws down the stretch to survive.
• Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 24 with four assists, while Dylan Disu added his second straight double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Maxwell Evans scored 18.

A Vandy Victory Would…

• … be the third SEC win in the last seven games (won three of the previous 42 conference games).
• … match last season’s SEC win total in five fewer games.
• … be the first for in four games for Coach Stackhouse against Tennessee.
• … mark the first Top 25 win since a 99-90 victory over LSU on Feb. 5, 2020.
• … be the first win against a ranked Tennessee team since an 85-76 road win on Jan. 27, 2010.

A Vandy Defeat Would…

• … mark a three-game losing streak overall and eighth straight loss to Tennessee.
• … be less good than a win.

On Deck

• Senior Night is set Saturday against Ole Miss and the regular season finale is scheduled for March 2 at LSU.