11/10 Vanderbilt (14-0, 1-0 SEC) vs. 13/12 Alabama (11-3, 1-0 SEC)
Wednesday, Jan. 7 • 8 p.m. CT
Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, Tenn.
ESPN2 • 102.5 The Game • Game Notes • Game Day Central • Tickets
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 11/10 Vanderbilt puts its unbeaten mark on the line in a top 15 showdown against No. 13/12 Alabama Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN2.
Fans can also tune in to the Vanderbilt Sports Network broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Vanderbilt Athletics App where Kevin Ingram and Tim Thompson will call the action.
A LONG TIME COMING
- Wednesday’s top 15 tilt will be the first in Memorial Gymnasium since Jan. 5, 1974. That matchup? No. 10 Vanderbilt vs. No. 14 Alabama.
- In that meeting between the Dores and Tide, Butch Feher hit the game-winning layup with five seconds to play. It was Vandy’s only lead of the game.
- Feher and the famed F-Troop went on to win Vanderbilt’s second SEC Championship, going 23-5 overall and 15-3 in SEC action.
TANNER TIES RECORD
- Down two guards in the SEC opener, sophomore Tyler Tanner provided plenty with a record-tying 14 assists.
- Tanner finished with 19 points to record the first double-double of his career in the win over the Gamecocks.
- He’s the first Commodore to record a double-double in points and assists since Scotty Pippen Jr. against Mississippi State in 2021.
- Tanner’s 14 assists are the most by any SEC player this season and matched the Vanderbilt school record owned by former SEC Player of the Year Billy McCaffrey.
OK AK
- Graduate transfer AK Okereke saved his best for SEC play, dropping 17 points in the league-opening win at South Carolina.
- The 17 points marked a season-best for the versatile Okereke, who also added six boards, an assist, a steal and a block against the Gamecocks.
- Okereke went 3-fo-6 from three-point range, a season-high in makes from beyond the arc.
RAINING NICKEL
- Tyler Nickel ranks ninth in the country with 52 made threes on the season and seventh in threes per game at 3.7. Both marks lead the SEC.
- The flamethrower sits sixth nationally, connecting on 49.1 percent of his three-point attempts. He has hit three or more threes in 10 games this season.
- Nickel blitzed Wake Forest with an 8-of-10 onslaught from three-point range, marking the second game with eight threes
- The senior dropped a career-high 30 points in the win over Central Arkansas.
- Nickel also set career highs with 10 made field goals and eight made threes.
- He joined Shan Foster as the only Commodores to hit eight threes in multiple games in a single season.
- Nickel became the first Dore to hit eight threes in a game since current Grizzlies’ guard Scotty Pippen Jr.
SERIES HISTORY
- Vanderbilt and Alabama meet for the 150th time on Wednesday with the Crimson Tide owning a 78-71 edge in the series.
- The Dores are 41-25 when playing at home but have not beaten the Tide in Memorial since 2018.
