The Vanderbilt Commodores were coming off a 23-11 season in 2010-11 that ended with a first-round loss to the Richmond Spiders. Vanderbilt had made the NCAA Tournament in four of the last five seasons under head coach Kevin Stallings, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2006-07. Before the season, a select panel of both SEC and national media members gave the Commodores four first-place votes in the SEC preseason poll, ranking second behind the Kentucky Wildcats.
NCAA Bracket 2012: How Vanderbilt Basketball Got To March Madness
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Junior guard John Jenkins led the Commodores in scoring this season, averaging 20 points per game while doing most of his damage from beyond the arc, hitting on 118-of-256 (46.1 percent) of his three-point attempts. Senior forward Jeffrey Taylor averaged 17.1 points per game and shot 51.2 percent from the floor, including 45.1 percent on 133 three-point attempts, adding nearly six rebounds per game. Center Festus Ezeli averaged 10.1 points and had a team-high 45 blocked shots, while senior swingman Lance Goulbourne led the team in rebounding (6.8 per game) while chipping in nearly nine points per game.
The Commodores finished 21-10 in the regular season, posting a 13-5 record at home and a 2-0 mark in neutral sites. Vanderbilt was at its best during an eight-game winning streak in the middle season, including a four-win start to their conference schedule. Though the Commodores would cool off though, going 5-5 over their final 10 games entering the SEC Tournament, they got hot at the right time, advancing all the way to the final where they shocked top-seeded Kentucky, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the year -- and their first to an SEC opponent.
Vanderbilt will open the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East, facing No. 12 Harvard in their first game.
To read more about the Commodores, go to the SBN Vanderbilt blog, Anchor of Gold. Join our 2012 NCAA Bracket pool to compete against the best and brightest from around the network.
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