News and Notes
- Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with the Tribe at 4-0
with all four meeting coming in Nashville. The Tribe will look for its first
win over the SEC since 1981 and its first on an SEC home court since 1959.
- Sophomore guard
Marcus Thornton led the Tribe with 21
points against Purdue. It marked his fifth 20-point game of the season, which
is tied for the CAA lead.
- Over his last five games, junior
Kyle Gaillard is
averaging 12.2 points per game, while shooting 73.7 percent (28-of-38) from the
field.
- According to the NCAA stats (as of Dec. 30), W&M ranks
fifth nationally in defensive 3-point percentage, 17th in field goal
percentage, 66th in defensive field goal percentage, 73rd in 3-point percentage
and 88th in assists.
- For the third straight week, the College received votes in
the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 released on Dec. 31.
Scouting Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt enters the game with the Tribe at 5-6 following a
68-49 setback to No. 18 Butler on Dec. 29. After winning three straight at
Xavier, against Alabama A&M and Cornell, the Commodores have suffered
back-to-back losses to Butler and Middle Tennessee. Kevin Stalling, who owns
266 wins at Vanderbilt, is in his 14th season as the head coach of the
Commodores.
As a team, the Commodores average 59.3 points per game,
while holding opponents to 60.4 points per game. Vanderbilt shoots 41.7 percent
from the floor overall, including an impressive 35.7 percent from 3-point
range. The Commodores knock down 7.4 3-pointers per game and rank 14th
nationally, according to KenPom.com, scoring 37.3 percent of its points from
3-point range. Defensively, Vanderbilt holds opponents to 41.8 percent from the
floor and 31.7 percent from 3-point range.
Sophomore Kedren Johnson leads the Commodores in scoring at
17 points per game, shooting 39.7 percent from 3-point range and hitting 2.3
3-points per game. He also shoots 47.5 percent from the floor and adds a
team-best 1.9 steals and 2.7 assists per game. Junior Kyle Fuller is second on
the team at 12.3 points per game to go with 2.5 assists per contest. Junior forward
Rod Odom is Vanderbilt's top low-post threat at 9.4 points per game to go with
4.1 rebounds per contest. Freshman guard Kevin Bright chips in 6.5 points and a
team-best 6.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from
3-point range.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with W&M at 4-0
with all four games coming in Nashville. The Commodores tallied an 81-60
victory over the Tribe in the last meeting on Dec. 29, 1999.
Tribe vs. the SEC
The Tribe has played seven of the SEC's 14 current members,
amassing a 4-15 mark. The Tribe's most recent contest against an SEC opponent
came during the 2004-05 season when the Green and Gold fell at Kentucky. Two of
the Tribe's four wins against the conference have come on SEC floors. W&M's
last victory over the SEC came against Auburn, 58-48, on Dec. 29, 1981 in
Durham, N.C., as part of the Iron Classic, while the College's last win at an
SEC foe came at Tennessee, 77-71, on Dec. 5, 1959.
Shooting Against a Top Level Defense
Facing one of the top defensive teams in the country, the
Tribe's offense performed well in its 73-66 setback at Purdue on Dec. 29.
W&M shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the floor, the highest for a Purdue
opponent this season. The Boilermakers entered the game 30th nationally in
defensive field goal percentage, holding opponents to just 37.9 percent from
the floor. The Green and Gold connected on an impressive 60 percent (15-of-25)
from the floor in the opening half on the way to a 40-39 lead at the
intermission. The College also connected on 35 percent (7-of-20) from 3-point
range, marking just the third time this season a team shot 35 percent or better
from long distance against the Boiler defense. Purdue was 41st nationally in
defensive 3-point percentage at 28.7 percent entering the contest.
Field Goal Consistency
W&M has not only shot the ball at a high level this
season, but a consistent level as well. The Green and Gold shot 45 percent or
better in 10 of its 11 games this season with the lone exception a 41.2 percent
outing at Wake Forest on Nov. 23. W&M ranks 17th nationally in field goal
percentage at 48.6 percent, as of Dec. 30. The College has shot a better
percentage from the floor than its opponent in 10 of 11 games as well,
including three games of 50-plus percent from the floor (High Point, Old
Dominion and Salisbury). W&M has three players among the top eight in the
CAA in field goal percentage as of Dec. 31. Junior
Tim Rusthoven is third at
57.3 percent followed by junior
Brandon Britt (52.4 percent) and sophomore
Marcus Thornton (48 percent) in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Gaillard Shooting
Junior forward
Kyle Gaillard has been extremely effective
from the field in 2012-13. The Huntersville, N.C., native ranks fourth
nationally according to KenPom.com, as of Dec. 30, in effective field goal
percentage at 71 percent. He is also ninth nationally in true shooting
percentage at 69.9 percent. Effective field goal percentage is the same as
field goal percentage but gives teams more credit for 3-pointers made, while
true shooting percentage includes field goal and free throw percentage. For the
year, Gaillard leads the Tribe at 62.9 percent from the field. He has been even
better over the last six games, shooting 73.7 percent (28-of-38) from the
floor. On two occasions this season, Gaillard was perfect from the field. He
was 6-of-6 in the Tribe's 82-49 win over Salisbury on Dec. 21. Earlier this
season, he tied a school record, going a perfect 7-of-7 from the field in the
Tribe's double-overtime game with Richmond on Nov. 28. He became just the ninth
player in school history to shoot a perfect 100 percent from the field, taking
at least seven shots.
Three-Headed Scoring Monster
The Tribe's top three returning scorers, sophomore Marcus
Thornton and juniors
Brandon Britt and
Tim Rusthoven, have upped their
production in the early going of the 2012-13 campaign. The trio is averaging a
combined 47.2 of the W&M's 70.4 points per game (67.1 percent). On the
year, all three rank among the top 15 in the CAA with Thornton leading the way
in third at 18.3 points per game. Britt and Rusthoven ranks 10th and 13th,
respectively, averaging 14.6 and 14.3 points per game. On nine occasions one of
the trio has scored 20-plus points in a game. Thornton and Rusthoven both
tallied 20-point games at High Point and Richmond, while Britt led the Tribe
with 21 points at Liberty and a career-high 26 against Howard. Thornton also
scored a season-high 24 points in the opener against Hampton, 23 in the win
over ODU and had a game-high 21 at Purdue.
