Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters: Bama Edition Part II

Nashville, Tn.- The Vanderbilt Commodores take to the road on Tuesday to face the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, it is their final "road trip" of the regular season unless you consider playing the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville a road trip.

Vanderbilt dropped the first meeting of the season against Alabama at Memorial Gym by a final of 77-62 in Jerry Stackhouse's first-ever game versus the Crimson Tide.

This time things could be different for Bama as star guard John Petty's status for tonight's game is unknown after he suffered a right arm injury last week. While it has been said he could return for this game, that fact remains unclear and Petty missed Alabama's home win over South Carolina on Saturday and was wearing a sling on that injured arm during the game.

Here are so quick hitters for you on the Alabama/Vanderbilt series.

Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters

• Vanderbilt dropped to 9-20 overall and 1-15 in SEC play after an 86-60 loss to Ole Miss 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 10 points.

• Lee is averaging 17.5 points and 4.2 assists per game, which ranks 5th and 6th 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 seventh in field goal percentage (.470), 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 - Wright, Lee, Maxwell Evans, Aaron Nesmith, and Scotty Pippen Jr.

• Scotty Pippen Jr. is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists/game (9th, 3.5) and free throws attempted (8th, 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 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 (Disu, Pippen Jr.), a redshirt sophomore (Obinna), and two juniors (Evans, Lee). True freshmen have accounted for 41% minutes played, and with Aaron 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 has done it twice. It was the first multiple 30-point efforts by an SEC team since 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. It was 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 Aaron 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 .522. He had also made an SEC-best 60 threes this season through 14 games. He also ranked eighth in free-throw percentage (.825) and field-goal percentage (.512) prior to his injury.

• Amazingly, Nesmith is still sixth in the SEC in threes 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, Aaron 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 - Darius 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.