Scouting East Tennessee State
East Tennessee State enters the game with a record of 1-2 after a 78-57 loss at UNCWilmington Saturday. The Bucs return 11 lettermen and four starters from last year’s squad that finished 18-10 and 11-5 in the Southern Conference to tie for first place in the North Division.

Sophomore guard Tiras Wade leads the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game, while junior forward Jerald Fields is the only other double-figure scorer with 10.7 points per game. ETSU’s leading rebounder is junior forward Zakee Wadood, who averages seven boards a game.

Vanderbilt and ETSU have faced each other in four of the past five seasons and every year since Kevin Stallings’ arrival as Vanderbilt head coach four years ago.

Three...Dot...Data vs. Connecticut
After shooting just 45-of-75 (.600) from the free-throw line in the first three games of this season, Vanderbilt made 16-of-19 (.842) from the charity stripe against UConn...The Commodores were outrebounded by just two boards (36-34) after being outrebounded by 10 boards against UConn last season...Freshman Adam Payton scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds in just eight minutes of action...Sophomore Corey Smith was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and now is 10-of-10 for the season...Vanderbilt outscored UConn 39-38 in the second stanza...Sophomore David Przybyszewski scored a season- high eight points and collected five rebounds...Despite going against one of the nation’s premier shot blockers in UConn’s Emeka Okafor, he had just three blocks, while Vanderbilt and UConn finished the game tied with four blocks apiece...Junior forward Matt Freije matched a career high with his 36 minutes...Points in the paint: VU 42, UConn 40...Points off turnovers: VU 14, UConn 21...Second-chance points: VU 12, UConn 14...Fast-break points: VU 12, UConn 11.

Freije Quietly Still Team Leader
Junior forward Matt Freije quietly continues to be the team leader with 18 points per game. He has been Vanderbilt’s leading scorer in all four contests and the game-high scorer in three of those four games.

Freije’s season-high scoring output was 22 points against Georgia Southern, but his performance against the No. 12 UConn Huskies was his best all-around effort. The junior scored 18 points and just missed his second career double-double with nine rebounds. His nine boards was the most for him since grabbing nine rebounds Dec. 29 against Morehead State.

Commodores Struggle From Downtown
Vanderbilt found the going tough from long range against the No. 12 Connecticut Huskies. The Commodores did not make a three-pointer until the 13:32 mark of the second half and finished just 2-of-15 (.133) from behind the three-point arc.

The two made treys and the 13.3 three-point field goal percentage were both lows for Vanderbilt since shooting 2-of-20 (.100) Feb. 20 against Mississippi State.

Complete Notes