Scouting Notre Dame
Notre Dame enters the game with a record of 10-1 and winners of six straight after a 93-75 home victory over Canisius Sunday. The Fighting Irish finished last season with a 22-11 record overall and a 10-6 record in the BIG EAST. They advanced to second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing 84-77 to Duke.

The highlight of the season so far for Notre Dame was a six-day stretch in early December. From Dec. 2 to Dec. 8, the Fighting Irish defeated No. 10 Marquette, No. 8 Maryland and No. 2 Texas. That week helped catapult Notre Dame to its current ranking of No. 9 after entering the season unranked.

Senior guard Matt Carroll is Notre Dame’s leading scorer with 19.7 points per game, while sophomore guard Chris Thomas is close behind with 18.1 points per game. Freshman forward Torin Francis is the squad’s top rebounder with 9.5 boards per contest, while senior guard/forward Dan Miller is second in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds per game.

Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with Notre Dame, 4-3, and has a perfect 2-0 record in South Bend. The Commodores’ last trip to South Bend was in Kevin Stallings’ first year at Vanderbilt as the Commodores defeated Notre Dame, 87-85, Dec. 4, 1999. The last time the two teams faced was Dec. 2, 2000, when the Irish handed Vanderbilt a 77-74 home loss.

Three...Dot...Data vs. Michigan
Russell Lakey’s eight points ties for his second best effort this season... Vanderbilt’s bench has outscored the opponents’ bench in all nine games this season, including a 19-7 edge over Michigan...This was the first loss for VU this season when leading at halftime (5-1)...The 66 points scored ties the Tulane game for the second fewest this season... Vanderbilt had a better field goal percentage than Michigan (.472/.385), which is the first time the Commodores have outshot their opponents in a loss since doing it at Alabama last season (.528/.463)...VU is 12-of-37 (.324) from three-point range in the past two games...VU’s four steals is a season low.

BT Carries Team at Michigan
At Michigan, Brian Thornton once again showed he is an offensive threat to be reckoned with. The sophomore forward posted game-highs with 20 points and eight rebounds and also recorded a career-high four blocks. He did this while playing 35 minutes, which is five minutes more than his previous career high.

BT got to 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. It was in the first half that he made his biggest impact. After falling behind 10-1, Thornton helped Vanderbilt gain a three-point halftime lead by scoring 14 of the team’s final 23 points.

Moore Provides Offensive Spark
Mario Moore finished the Michigan game with a season-best 10 points, making him the only double-figure scorer for Vanderbilt other than Brian Thornton (20). The freshman guard was 4-of-9 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range, which are all season highs. He also recorded a positive assist/turnover ratio for the fourth straight game.

Vanderbilt Versus Ranked Opponents
After losing to No. 6 Indiana, Vanderbilt is 0-2 this season and 9- 17 under Kevin Stallings versus ranked opponents. In the 36 games versus ranked opponents leading up to Stallings’ arrival (1994-99), VU won just six games. All-time, the Commodores are now 63-170 against ranked opponents.

Complete Notes