Vandy Has No Mercy In 80-41 Thrashing of Austin Peay

It took Matthew Fisher-Davis 55 seconds to continue Vanderbilt's now 932-game streak of making a three-pointer.

It didn't take much longer than that for the Commodores to have the game in hand.  Vanderbilt scored the first 21 points of the game and led 28-2 midway through the first half, on their way to a 80-41 win over the visiting Austin Peay Governors.  Eight different Commodores scored as Vanderbilt opened a 47-15 lead at halftime.  Joe Toye scored his first points as a Commodore on a thunderous breakaway dunk that got the crowd of 10,115 fired up.  Camron Justice couldn't match that, scoring his first points on a pair of technical free throws, but did add a three-pointer before the break.

Kevin Stallings emptied the bench midway through the second half; all but two players saw action tonight but the star of the game was Luke Kornet.  Kornet, who many people pointed to as the most improved player on the team, had a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards, in addition to 3 assists and 4 blocks.  Wade Baldwin contributed 14 points and 4 assists, and it was another day at the office for Damian Jones who had 12 points and 5 boards.  But a total of ten different Commodores got in the scorebook, including all three freshmen who played: Justice had 8 points (shooting 2-3 from three), and Toye ended the night with 7 points.  Samir Sehic waited until the second half to get his first points but he did get seven rebounds.

It was over when: Matthew Fisher-Davis hit a three-pointer with 19:05 left in the first half.  Seriously, it was over at that point.  Austin Peay never threatened at all.

Player Notes:

• Jeff Roberson missed the game due to lingering symptoms after suffering a concussion in a scrimmage last week.
• Djery Baptiste did not play.  Considering that this was a game in which Carter Josephs, Nathan Watkins, and Philip McGloin all saw action, we're assuming at this point that Baptiste is redshirting.
• Luke Kornet's 13 rebounds set a new career high, and his 4 blocks tied his previous career high.
• Josh Henderson tied a career high with 7 rebounds.

What's Next:

With the opening-night jitters out of the way, Vanderbilt hosts Gardner-Webb on Monday night at 7 PM.  The Runnin' Bulldogs of Boiling Springs, NC, went 20-15 last year and hopefully will provide a bit more of a test than Austin Peay was.

Celebrate, everybody.  Vanderbilt is 1-0.