Scouting Tulane
Tulane enters the game with a record of 3-3 after an 80-67 loss at New Orleans Thursday. The Green Wave returns 13 lettermen and all five starters from last year’s squad that finished 14-15 and 5-11 in the Conference USA standings. Senior forward Brandon Brown leads Tulane in scoring and rebounding with 16.7 points and nine rebounds per game.

Senior guard Brandon Spann is second in scoring with 15.2 points per contest and leads the team with 25 assists. Senior guard Waitari Marsh, who was the team’s third-leading scorer last season with 11.8 points per game, has only played two games this season because of an ankle injury.

The Vanderbilt-Tulane series dates back to the 1920-21 season and continued with their membership in the SEC. The series was renewed last year for the first time since the 1965-66 season. Last season, Tulane shot almost 67 percent from the field and 63 percent from threepoint range to defeat Vanderbilt 87-77 at the New Orleans Arena.

Three...Dot...Data vs. East Tennessee State
Vanderbilt had four double-digit scorers (Freije, Thornton, Przybyszewski, Hundley), which is just the second time that has occurred this season...Vanderbilt shot 50 percent from three-point range, which is the third time in five games this season VU has surpassed last season’s three-point percentage (.370)...Vanderbilt had eight blocks to just two for ETSU...Six of the 10 Commodores who took a shot versus ETSU had field goal percentages of at least 50 percent... Vanderbilt had a scoring drought of 4:30 in the first half and then scored just three points in the first 6:06 of the second half...The attendance of 12,490 fans for the Connecticut game was the most for a non- SEC game since 12,810 showed up for a 92-86 win over Ohio State on Nov. 28, 1998...Points in the paint: VU 38, ETSU 32...Points off turnovers: VU 26, ETSU 18...Second-chance points: VU 5, ETSU 13...Fast-break points: VU 13, ETSU 10.

Deuce Is Loose
Sophomore Brian Thornton is making a habit of flirting with double- doubles almost every night despite averaging just over 20 minutes per game. In just 19 minutes of action versus Georgia Southern, he scored a career-high 18 points and pulled down nine boards. Two games later against East Tennessee State, Thornton matched his career best with 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in just 20 minutes.

Thornton’s best rebounding game came against Alabama A&M when he had 10 boards. It was the fifth time in his career he has recorded a double-digit rebound game as he continues to be the only Commodore since the beginning of last season to post a double-figure rebound game.

Przybyszewski Steadily Becoming More Productive
Sophomore David Przybyszewski scored a season-high 13 points against East Tennessee State on 6-of-7 shooting, which included just his second three-pointer of the season. Przybyszewski has now increased his scoring total in every game this season from two points against Southeastern Louisiana to the 13 versus ETSU.

Also against ETSU, Przybyszewski registered a career-high four blocks and grabbed five rebounds, which is one off a season high.

Vanderbilt’s Scoring Sources Different This Season
One has to look no further than the stats sheet to see in black and white that Vanderbilt has switched from a perimeter-based offense to more of an inside game.

This season, four of the top five scorers are forwards and post players, including Matt Freije (18.0), Brian Thornton (13.8), Corey Smith (8.4) and David Przybyszewski (7.2). Last season, three of the top four scorers were guards, including Chuck Moore (12.7), Brendan Plavich (10.1) and Sam Howard (9.7).

Complete Notes