NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The SEC Tournament awaits the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team this Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena when the Commodores take on Texas A&M. The game will begin at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised 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 finished the regular season with a 9-22 record after dropping their SEC finale to LSU, 80-59, Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La. Sophomore Saben Lee scored 16 points to lead the Commodores, with junior center Yanni Wetzell also adding 11 points for Vanderbilt.
- Lee leads the Commodores in scoring with 12.5 points per game and freshman Simisola Shittu in rebounding with 6.8 rebounds per contest. Freshman Aaron Nesmith is the team’s leading scorer in SEC games only (13.5 points).
- Aaron Nesmith was named the Co-SEC Player of the Week earlier this season after averaging 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in games against Florida and Auburn. The honor is the third by a Vanderbilt freshman after Darius Garland and Simisola Shittu captured the honor earlier this season.
- Vanderbilt and Kentucky are the only two teams in the SEC that have had three different players named as Freshman of the Week. This year is also the first time the Commodores have had three different players selected as Freshman of the Week in one season.
- The SEC Tournament returns to Nashville this week for the 10th time in tournament history. The Commodores have hosted the tournament at Memorial Gym twice in 1984 (1-1) and 1991 (0-1), and the event has been held at the now-Bridgestone Arena in 2001 (0-1), 2006 (1-1), 2010 (1-1), 2013 (2-1), 2014 (0-1), and 2015 (0-1). All-time in games played in Nashville, the Commodores are 7-9.
- The Commodores’ only meeting against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament came in 2017 at Bridgestone Arena, when Vanderbilt knocked off the Aggies for the third time that season, 66-41, in the second round of the tournament. Vanderbilt advanced to the semifinals that season (lost to Arkansas).
- Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 8-4, although the Aggies won the only meeting this season, 64-57, on March 2 in College Station.
- Vanderbilt, an inaugural member of the Southeastern Conference, is in their 86th season of SEC competition. Vanderbilt has won two SEC Tournament titles (1951, 2012) and three regular season titles in 1965, 1974, and 1993. This was the 67th SEC season in Memorial Gym for the Commodores, the oldest basetball arena in the SEC.
- The Commodores enter the game as the 304th-most experienced team in the country according to KenPom.com.
- Shittu is the league’s second-leading freshman rebounder with 6.8 rebounds per game in all games. His current rebounding average is the fourth-highest by a Vanderbilt freshman in the history of the program. Nesmith’s 5.7 rebounds per game is eighth among all Commodore freshmen all time.
- Vanderbilt freshman guard Darius Garland declared for the NBA Draft on Jan. 22.
- Vanderbilt’s average height is 78.5 inches (6 feet, 5 inches) and ranks 14th nationally according to KenPom.
- The Commodores have marched to the charity-stripe 693 times this season, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Vanderbilt is sixth in the SEC with 467 free throw makes. 21.9% of the team’s points comes from free throws (28th nationally).
- Vanderbilt also ranks in the top five in the SEC in 3FG Attempts (3rd, 715).
- Individually, Lee is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists per game (8th, 3.9), free throw attempts (4th, 186) and free throws made (5th, 127). Shittu is ranked in defensive rebounds per game (7th, 5.13) and free throw attempts (9th, 149).
- Lee’s 122 assists places him sixth on Vanderbilt’s single-season assist list for a sophomore.
- The Commodores signed a pair of four-star prospects in the early signing period. Austin Crowley, a 6’4 shooting guard from West Point, Miss. who attends Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas, and Dylan Disu, a 6’8 power forward from Pflugerville, Texas who attends Hendrickson High School, each signed a letter of intent with the Commodores in November.
About Texas A&M
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 8-4
Last Meeting: Texas A&M win, 64-57, on 3/2/19 in College Station, Texas
Record at Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt leads, 5-1
Record at TAMU: Texas A&M leads, 3-2
Record at Neutral Site: Vanderbilt leads, 1-0
Coach Drew vs. TAMU: Coach Drew is 3-2 against Texas A&M
- Texas A&M enters Wednesday’s game with a 13-17 overall record and the 11th seed in the SEC Tournament.
- Wendell Mitchell leads the Aggies in scoring with 13.5 points per game. Savion Flagg (13.1) and TJ Starks (12.3) also average double figures.
- Commodores Maxwell Evans (Houston) and Clevon Brown (San Antonio) each hail from the state of Texas. 2019 signee Dylan Disu also calls Texas home (Pflugerville).
Vanderbilt (9-22, 0-18) vs. Texas A&M (13-17, 6-12)
Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena – 8:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Tom Hart (pxp), Jon Sundvold (analyst) and Andy Kennedy (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from Learfield/IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 138, XM 190
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Three Point U
The Commodores are one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a three-point basket in every game since the inception of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
With a made three against Texas A&M, Vanderbilt will move to 1,063 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
Freshmen Leading the Charge
The Commodores are one of only 10 programs (Duke, UNC Asheville, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Mount St. Mary’s, Rice, and UTEP) in the nation to have three separate freshman score 20 points or more in a game (Darius Garland, Aaron Nesmith, Simisola Shittu)
Commodores in 86th SEC Season
Vanderbilt is now in its 86th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 716-726.
