2011 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 5 Vanderbilt

DENVER — Tomorrow at 4:10 p.m., the University of Richmond will play Vanderbilt University in the second round of the 2011 NCAA tournament at the Pepsi Center here in Denver, Colo. Here are some things you will need to know about Vanderbilt.

• Vanderbilt can score. Four Commodores average double figures as the team scores 76 points per game, led by sophomore John Jenkins. Jenkins has been called one of the Southeastern Conference's best shooters and averages 19.5 points per game on about 46 percent shooting. Also scoring in double figures are: Jeffrey Taylor (15.1), Festus Ezeli (12.8) and Brad Tinsley (10.6).

• Vanderbilt wants to play fast. When possible, the Commodores want to push the ball up the court and score quickly before getting into their half-court set. "They push the ball up the court so easy, get so many easy threes and easy shots because they move the ball fast in transition," Richmond's Kevin Anderson said.

• Vanderbilt does have some similar pieces as last year's Saint Mary's team. Ezeli is 6-foot-11 and weighs 255 pounds. Like Omar Samhan from Saint Mary's, Ezeli will get into foul trouble on occasion (he's fouled out of five games) but does not rebound as well as Samhan.

"Saint Mary's had the most productive center in the country, and he was the focal point of their offense," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "While Vanderbilt has a great big man in Ezeli, he's probably the co-focal point in their offense."

Vanderbilt can also hurt Richmond from the outside as well. Jenkins is Vanderbilt's main three-point shooter as he makes about 40 percent of his attempts. As a team, the Commodores make about eight three pointers per game.

Mooney said that there were also differences between Vanderbilt and Saint Mary's that he would hope to exploit, but did not go into details at his press conference on Wednesday.

• These teams are unfamiliar with each other. They have met twice with Vanderbilt taking both meetingsback in 1977 and 1978 so none of the players on either team have faced the other school. Also, they have not played a common opponent this year.

• Vanderbilt does have some impressive victories. It has beaten a team in this year's tournament five times (University of North Carolina, Belmont, Marquette, Georgia and Kentucky) but has dropped its last four against teams in the tournament this year (Florida twice, Kentucky and Tennessee). Its worst loss this year was an 11-point defeat at home against Arkansas.

• Jenkins is slowed by a foot injury. He said at Wednesday's press conference that he will play but that it still bothers him.

• Vanderbilt has never played in the state of Colorado before, so it has never experienced this altitude. But like Richmond's Justin Harper, Taylor said that he did not believe the altitude would have any affect on the team's play. "I feel like it's more mental than physical so you can't let it get to your mind," Taylor said.

Contact staff writer Andrew Prezioso at andrew.prezioso@richmond.edu