NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Commodores will hit the road for the final time of the regular season when they travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to take on Alabama at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be aired live on the 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
• Vanderbilt dropped to 9-20 overall and 1-15 in SEC play after an 86-60 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi. Redshirt sophomore Ejike Obinna scored 13 points to lead Vanderbilt with freshman Scotty Pippen Jr. adding 11 points and junior Saben Lee scoring 10 points.
• Lee is averaging 17.5 points and 4.2 assists per game, which ranks fifth and sixth in the SEC in both categories in all games, respectively. In league play, he is averaging 18.9 points per game, which ranks sixth in the league.
• In all games, Lee is also also seventh in field goal percentage (47), fifth in total free throws made (135), second in attempted free throws (179) and eighth in steals/game (1.52).
• The Commodores have held the lead at the half in six SEC games this season – Missouri, Georgia, both games against Kentucky, Mississippi State, LSU – and were tied in their game at Tennessee.
• The Commodores have had five players score 20 or more points in a game – Jordan Wright, Lee, Maxwell Evans, Aaron Nesmith, and Pippen Jr.
• Pippen Jr. is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists/game (ninth, 3.5) and free throws attempted (eighth, 156).
• Walk-ons Jon Jossell and Drew Weikert have received minutes in Vanderbilt’s last few games. Jossell is a senior from Arcadia, Oklahoma, who joined the team after spending three seasons as a manager while Weikert, from Nashville, is a sophomore who joined the team in October after spending one season at Centre College in Kentucky. Weikert’s father Doug Weikert played basketball for the Commodores (1980-83) and is an orthopedic surgeon at Vanderbilt.
• The Commodores are a youthful bunch – in the last game against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt started two true freshmen (Dylan Disu, Pippen Jr.), a redshirt sophomore (Obinna) and two juniors (Evans, Lee). True freshmen have accounted for 41% of minutes played, and with Nesmith’s minutes taken away, freshmen have played 45% of minutes played. Disu, Wright, and Pippen Jr. have all scored in double figures in a game in at least one game this season. According to KenPom.com, Vanderbilt has 1.13 years of experience on its roster, which ranks 320th in Division I basketball.
• Pippen is third in assists among all SEC freshmen with 3.5/game. He is second in the league in free throws made (108) and first in attempted free throws (156) among all freshmen.
• As a team, the Commodores are second in the SEC in threes made/game (8.1) and total threes (235).
• The Commodores captured their first SEC win of the season and snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 99-90 win over No. 18 LSU Feb. 5 at Memorial Gym. Lee and Evans are only the second scoring duo in the country to score 30 or more points in a single game this season, joining Austin Peay’s Jordyn Adams and Terry Taylor, who have done it twice. It was the first multiple 30-point efforts by an SEC team since Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks (32) and Patrick Patterson (33) against Tennessee State (12.22.2008).
• Lee and Evan’s 30-point+ games are the first in a single SEC game since 1996-97. They became the first Vanderbilt duo to score 30 or more points in a game since Jeff Fosnes (39) and Butch Feher (34) vs. Jacksonville on 12.21.74. Clyde Lee (33) and John Ed Miller (30) also accomplished the feat on 2.16.65 against Kentucky.
• It was announced before the Texas A&M game that Vanderbilt’s leading scorer Nesmith would be out indefinitely with a right foot injury. Prior to the injury, Nesmith led the SEC in scoring with 23.0 points per game and was fifth nationally. He also led the SEC and nation in 3FG/game with 4.29 and 3FG% at 52.2. He had also made an SEC-best 60 3s this season through 14 games. He also ranked eighth in free-throw percentage (.825) and field-goal percentage (51.2) prior to his injury.
• Amazingly, Nesmith is still sixth in the SEC in 3s made in all games (60). Nesmith has not played a game since Jan. 8.
• Bad luck Commodores: Vanderbilt has lost one of its leading scorers in each of the last three seasons due to injury – 2019-20, Nesmith (leading scorer); 2018-19, Darius Garland (leading scorer); 2017-18, Matthew Fisher-Davis (second-leading scorer).
• The Commodores have had five first-round NBA Draft picks since 2012, the second-most in the SEC in that time span – 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: Alabama leads, 71-69
Last Meeting: Alabama – W, 62-77
Jan. 22, 2020 – Nashville, Tenn.
At Alabama: Alabama leads, 45-21
Jerry Stackhouse vs. Alabama: 0-1
Alabama Series Records/Important Dates
• Alabama leads the all-time series 71-69. The Crimson Tide have won the last three games in the series, including a 77-62 win earlier this year in Nashville. The series began in the 1923-24 season.
• Alabama leads the series 45-21 in games played at Alabama. Vanderbilt’s last win in the series in Tuscaloosa came in the 2015 season.
• 1.03.90 – Vanderbilt defeated No. 22 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 68-67.
• 1.11.83 – The Commodores knocked off No. 10 Alabama at Coleman Coliseum, 81-79.
Media Information
Vanderbilt (9-20, 1-15 SEC) vs. Alabama (16-13, 8-8 SEC)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Coleman Coliseum – 7:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Dave Neal (play-by-play), Daymeon Fishback (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
