Scouting Georgia
Georgia, currently ranked 19th in the AP poll and 22nd in the ESPN/USA Today poll, enters the game with an overall record of 12-4 and a 4-1 mark in the SEC after earning an 85-79 home victory over Auburn Saturday. The Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 12 games with the only blemish a 66-63 loss at Florida Jan. 11.

Georgia has four players averaging double-digit scoring, including junior Jarvis Hayes (18.1), senior Ezra Williams (18.0), junior Steve Thomas (10.3) and junior Chris Daniels (10.3). Thomas (7.4) and Daniels (6.6) are the squad’s top rebounders.

Last season, the schools split the two-game series with the Commodores earning an 86-84 home win Jan. 26, 2002. Jason Holwerda’s driving layup with five seconds remaining gave Vanderbilt the two-point win. That win capped the Commodores’ best stretch of the conference season last year in which they won three straight league games.

Three...Dot...Data vs. Florida
Vanderbilt is now 0-4 when their opponents shoot better than 50 percent...VU’s 48.3 field goal percentage is the highest in a loss this season...After scoring just two combined fast-break points in the previous three games, VU recorded 14 fast-break points versus Florida...VU has grabbed seven offensive rebounds in each of the past four games...Freshman Julian Terrell played a career-high 21 minutes...Terrell also was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and his 11 points was just one off his career high of 12 points at Notre Dame...Despite not starting for the first time this season, junior Russell Lakey still played 26 minutes, scoring 10 points...Points in the paint: VU 34, UF 38...Points off turnovers: VU 14, UF 18...Second-chance points: VU 7, UF 8...Fast-break points: VU 14, UF 26.

Common Opponents
Vanderbilt and Georgia have played three common opponents with VU posting an 0-3 record and Georgia recording a 2-1 mark against those teams.

Opponent VU UGA
Auburn L, 59-62 W, 85-79
Tennessee L, 66-71 W, 81-76
Florida L, 75-87 L, 63-66

Commodores Find Three-Point Stroke
After facing some inconsistency from three-point range during the early part of the season, the Commodores have rebounded from behind the arc. In the past four games, Vanderbilt has made 50.8 percent (33- 65) of its three-point shots and has not made less than eight treys in any of those four contests.

Freije Moves to 32nd in Career Scoring
Junior forward Matt Freije became the 35th member of Vanderbilt’s 1,000-Point Club after scoring 18 points at Tennessee. With 1,032 career points, he has already climbed to No. 32 on the school’s career scoring list.

The last Commodore to enter this exclusive club was Sam Howard last season. Howard finished his four-year career 32nd on the list with 1,026 points and is now 33rd. Vanderbilt’s all-time leading scorer is Phil Cox, who scored 1,725 points from 1981 to 1985.

Vanderbilt Playing Nation’s 14th Toughest Schedule
As of Friday, CollegeRPI.com has Vanderbilt’s schedule ranked as the 14th toughest in the nation. Only Georgia (1), Arkansas (3), South Carolina (7) and Alabama (8) have tougher schedules in the SEC.

This season the Commodores have played five teams ranked in the Top-16 of the national polls, including Connecticut (12), Indiana (6), Notre Dame (6), Alabama (4), Kentucky (16) and Florida (5).

Holwerda Gears up for Gators
Sophomore guard Jason Holwerda once again proved he likes to play the Florida Gators. Of the 13 statistical categories in which career highs are kept, he has set or tied 11 of them in three games against Florida. He also averages 8.7 points per game versus the Gators, which is almost five points above his career average.

Holwerda broke out of his scoring and shooting slump by scoring a career-high 17 points Wednesday at No. 5 Florida. He actually had eclipsed his previous high of 12 points when he headed to the halftime lockerroom with 13 points.

In addition to his scoring high, Holwerda also set or tied six other career highs. He was 7-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from long range, while also grabbing a team-high six rebounds and dishing out three assists and pocketing a steal.

Complete Notes