Feb. 10, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | AP Photos 
| Green’s Photos
Vanderbilt 81, Alabama 77
February 10, 2011 – Memorial Gymnasium – Nashville, Tenn.
Attendance: 14,316
Starting Lineup
– Vanderbilt started junior Brad Tinsley and sophomore John Jenkins at guard, juniors Jeffery Taylor and Lance Goulbourne at forward and junior Festus Ezeli at center.
– The Commodores are 6-4 when stating this lineup.
– After missing the first start of his career at Florida, Taylor has now started 86 of 87 games as a Commodore. Tinsley started his 78th, Ezeli his 34th, Jenkins his 27th, and Goulbourne the 13th of his career.
Postgame Notes:
– With Vanderbilt winning 81-77 Thursday, Alabama now leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt 65-64. The Commodores improved to 40-18 against the Crimson Tide in games played in Nashville. With the win, Vanderbilt won their 11th straight game against Alabama at Memorial Gym.
– Head coach Kevin Stallings improved to 9-6 all-time against Alabama, including 6-0 against the Crimson Tide at Memorial Gym.
– With the win, Vanderbilt improved to 13-1 at home this year. The Commodores 81-point performance Thursday marked their 10th time this year that they have scored at least 80-points at home. The Commodores are 10-0 this year when scoring 80 points or more at Memorial Gym.
– Vanderbilt improved to 13-1 on the year when Jeffery Taylor scores at least 15 points. Their only loss came at Missouri when Taylor had 18 points.
– Stallings also improves to 89-96 in SEC play over his 12 seasons in the conference.
– Vanderbilt wore their gold uniforms for the second time this season and for the second time they were victorious. The Commodores are 12-1 in their white uniforms, 3-5 in their black and 2-0 in their gold.
– The game had 10 lead changes and was tied 11 times.
– Vanderbilt shot 51 percent (25-49) from the floor for the game while Alabama connected on 56 percent clip from the field for the game. VU improved to 9-1 on the year when shooting 50 percent or better.
– Alabama became the third opponent this year to shoot over 55 percent from the field at Memorial Gym. Arkansas-57.4% (1/29/11) and Marquette- 56.1% (12/29/10).
– Both teams shot over 75 percent from the free throw line. (VU – 22-of-27) (Alabama – 15-of-19)
– Vanderbilt improved to 11-1 this year when scoring at least 80 points.
– Vanderbilt is now 12-2 on the year when leading at intermission.
– Vanderbilt improved to 2-1 on the year when their opponents shoot 50% or better.
– Vanderbilt is now 15-3 on the year when making more 3-pointer than its opponent.
– Alabama outscored Vanderbilt in the paint 46-18 and won the battle of the boards (holding a slim 28-26 advantage).
– VU finished with 4 players in double figures (John Jenkins-20, Jeffery Taylor-19, Brad Tinsley-15 and Festus Ezeli-11
– Jeffery Taylor led VU with 12 first-half points. Taylor scored nine straight points during a span of two-and-half minutes. John Jenkins had nine points while Kyle Fuller tied his career high with a career-high six first-half points.
– Alabama was led by JaMychal Greens (23 points/10 rebounds) and Tony Mitchell (22 points, including 16 in the first half.
– With the win Vanderbilt improves to 17-6 overall and 5-4 in the SEC, while the loss drops Alabama to 15-8 and 7-2 in league play.
First-half notes: (VU led 42-39 at halftime)
– John Jenkins scored four of Vanderbilt’s first eight points, giving the Commodores an 8-4 lead at the first media timeout (15:13).
– Lance Goulbourne’s three-point basket with 13:24 left in the first-half to extend Vanderbilt’s consecutive game streak with a three-pointer to 785.
– With Vanderbilt trailing 15-12 with 13:01 remaining in the first half, the Commodores went on a 15-6 run over the next five minutes of play to take a 27-21 lead with 7:17 remaining in the half. Freshman Kyle Fuller hit two key three-pointers during the run while Jeffery Taylor hit one triple. Fuller’s two three-pointers marked a career high.
– Coming into the game Fuller was 2-for-17 from beyond the arc for the season, he was 2-for-2 from long range in the first half.
– With Vanderbilt leading 27-23 with 6:59 remaining in the first half, VU’ Jeffery Taylor scored six straight points on a perfect 3-for-3 field goals over a span of 1:20 as the Commodores extended its lead to 33-23 with 4:58 remaining.
– In the next possession Taylor connected on a three-pointer to give him nine straight points for Vanderbilt.
– With Vanderbilt leading 27-23 with 6:59 remaining, the Commodores went on a 15-8 run to go up 42-31 with 2:02 remaining in the opening period.
– With VU leading 42-31, Alabama closed out the final two minutes of the first half on a 10-2 run, including an 8-0 run over the last 1:50 to make the score 42-39 at intermission.
– Thursday’s game against Alabama marked the second consecutive SEC game where the Commodores led at halftime (led 30-23 vs. South Carolina on Feb. 5, 2011)
– Jeffery Taylor led VU with 12 first-half points. Taylor scored nine straight points during a span of two-and-half minutes. John Jenkins had nine points while Kyle Fuller tied his career high with a career-high six first-half points.- Seven VU players scored in the first half.
– Both teams shot exceptionally well in the opening half. VU connected on 15-of-27 field goals (56%) while Alabama was 18-for-30 (60%) from the field.
– Alabama outscored Vanderbilt 28-10 in the points in the paint in the first half.
– Lead changes: 2
– Ties: 3
– Largest lead: Vanderbilt 11, Alabama 4
Second-half notes:
– Alabama scored the first basket of the second half to cut VU’s lead to one (42-41) before Vanderbilt responded with a 10-4 run to take a 52-45 lead with 17:40 remaining in the second half.
– With Vanderbilt leading 52-45 with with 17:40 in the second half, Alabama went on a 11-2 run over the next five minutes to retake the lead at 56-54 with 12:47 left in the game.
– With Alabama leading 56-54, Vanderbilt responded with a 10-3 run of their own to go up 64-59.
– With VU leading 64-59, the Crimson Tide scored seven unanswered to go up 66-64 with 6:12 left in the game.
– John Jenkins and Brad Tinsley each scored 11 points during the second half.
Player notes:
– John Jenkins led Vanderbilt with 20 points, with 11 of those coming in the second half. Jenkins’ 20-point outing was his 13th game with at least 20 points and 15th of his career. Jenkins leads the team with 22 double-digit scoring games this year.- Jeffery Taylor’s 19 point and team-high 8 rebound performance marked the 19th time he has scored in double-digits this season and it marked the 65th time in his career that he has accomplished the feat. Thursday marked his second straight game with four 3-pointers (also ties career high). Taylor went 4-for-5 from downtown in the win.
– With 15 points, Brad Tinsley recorded his 13th double-digit scoring game of the season and 40th of his career. Tinsley posted an all-around effort Thursday, finishing with 15 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Tinsley finished the game a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
– John Jenkins went 9-of-11 from the free throw line, missing only his third and fourth shot from the charity stripe in conference play. He is now 59-63 from the line in conference action.- Kyle Fuller tied his career high with six points. Fuller went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc for the game. He came into the game with 2 made 3-pointers in 17 attempts.
– Festus Ezeli notched his 16th double digit game of the season and 19th of his career, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds.
