The 2006–07 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball men's basketball team finished with a 22–12 record ( SEC East: 10–6, 2nd) and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The Commodores were ranked No. 19 in the final ESPN/USA Today (Coaches) poll. The team was led by head coach

Kevin Stallings Kevin Eugene Stallings (born October 1, 1960) is an American former basketball coach, who formerly served as the head coach at Illinois State University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh. He was an assistant coach at Purdue ...

and played its home games at Memorial Gymnasium.

Preseason outlook

Entering the season, Vanderbilt was picked by the media attending the SEC's media days in October to finish 4th in a strong SEC East, behind the defending national champion

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Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

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. They returned three starters: swingmen Shan Foster and Derrick Byars and point guard Alex Gordon. Foster was their leading scorer last season and was the third-leading returning scorer in the SEC. Vanderbilt lost two starters: Julian Terrell, their top rebounder (7.2 rpg), and rising-junior DeMarre Carroll, their second-leading scorer (12.1 ppg). Terrell graduated, while Carroll unexpectedly decided to transfer to

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shortly after the 2005–06 season ended, a decision influenced by the fact that Mizzou's new head coach Mike Anderson is his uncle. Junior Shan Foster was named by the league's coaches to the preseason all-SEC first team.

Regular season

The Commodores got off to a rocky 1–3 start that included an embarrassing home loss to Furman (15–16 final record, 8–10

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). After that, Vanderbilt won 17 of their next 22 games, culminating in an 83–70 home win over then-No. 1

(33–5, SEC East: 14–2, 1st). They entered the NCAA Tournament winning only 2 of their last 5 games, including two losses to

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(21–14, SEC West: 7–9, 3rd), but one of the wins was a come-from-behind 67–65 home win over

(22–12, SEC East: 9–7, 4th), their fourth straight win over the Wildcats. Vanderbilt finished the regular season tied for 2nd with

(24–11, SEC East: 10–6) in the SEC East, four games behind eventual national champion Florida (35–5, SEC East: 14–2, 1st).

NCAA tournament

The Commodores were the No. 6 seed in the East Regional and lost 66–65 to No. 2 seeded Georgetown (30–6, Big East: 13–3, 1st) at

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. The Commodores defeated No. 11 seeded

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

(23–9, A-10: 11–5, 3rd) in the first round, 77–44, and No. 3 seeded

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

(26–7, Pac-10: 13–5, 2nd), 78–74, in two overtimes, at

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, before losing to Georgetown.

Awards

Following the end of the regular season, head coach

was named SEC Coach of the Year by his fellow SEC coaches, while senior Derrick Byars was named SEC Player of the Year by the league coaches (the AP chose

Chris Lofton Christopher Franklin Lofton (born March 27, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the University of Tennessee Volunteers. High school Chris Lofton is from Maysville, Kentucky, where he le ...

of Tennessee). Stallings has now led the Commodores to 20 wins in three of the last four seasons. Byars led the Commodores in scoring with 17.0 points per game and was a unanimous selection to the All-SEC first team. Junior Shan Foster, who averaged 15.6 points per game, was named to the All-SEC second team. Including NCAA Tournament games, Vanderbilt finished the season 7–3 against teams ranked in the Top 25. Only North Carolina and UCLA had more wins against ranked opponents

Roster and individual statistics

2006–07 schedule and results

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Vanderbilt Commodores Men's Basketball Team Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball seasons Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball The Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represents Vanderbilt University in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores have won three SEC regular-season titles (1965, 1974 and 1993) and two SEC Tournament championships (1951 and 20 ...

Vanderbilt