GAME NOTES: Wednesday's National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal action wraps up with a matchup featuring the fifth-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores making the trip out to Maples Pavilion to take on the second-seeded Stanford Cardinal.

The winner moves on to the NIT semifinals, and will get either top-seeded Old Dominion or third-seeded Murray State.

Vanderbilt was able to advance to the quarterfinal round with big wins over Saint Mary's-CA (75-64) and South Dakota State (92-77). The Jackrabbits upset top-seeded Colorado State to earn a chance to play the Commodores, but didn't make the most of that opportunity.

Stanford was cleared out of the Pac-12 Tournament by Utah, 80-56, in an embarrassing loss. The Cardinal have rebounded nicely in the NIT by taking down UC Davis, 77-64, and Rhode Island, 74-65, to get to the quarterfinal round. The Cardinal have yet to play an away game this postseason.

This will be the third-ever matchup between the Vanderbilt and Stanford - two storied programs. The Cardinal have taken both decisions over the Commodores - a 72-64 win in the 1954-54 campaign, and an 89-68 loss in the 1988-89 season.

Although South Dakota State had four players register a double-digit scoring total on Friday, the Jackrabbits were still held to just 37.9 percent shooting from the floor with a 10-of-22 mark from 3-point distance. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, converted 58.3 percent of its attempts from the floor, and was led by a near triple-double from Wade Baldwin IV, who registered 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Damian Jones contributed 15 points, James Siakam added 14 points and seven rebounds, and both Matthew Fisher-Davis and Luke Kornet added 12 points apiece.

Jones paces the Commodores with 14.6 ppg and a team-best 6.5 rpg, adding in 68 blocked shots and a 56.3 shooting percentage. Freshman Riley LaChance chips in 12.4 ppg as the only other player for the Commodores who averages a double- digit scoring figure. But Baldwin (9.4 ppg) and Siakam (9.0 ppg) are both on the cusp of the benchmark for Vanderbilt, which offensively is averaging 70.5 ppg as a unit on 47.4 percent shooting. Defensively, the Commodores are allowing only 63.9 ppg to opponents, who are converting 40.4 percent of their shots. Baldwin has dished out a team-high 154 assists and recorded 50 steals this season.

Stanford overcame a poor shooting performance that saw the Cardinal hit on just 34 percent of their shots on Sunday. Stanford was able to do so by shooting a whopping 36-of-49 from the free-throw line, compared to 12 made free throws for the Rams in the contest. Chasson Randle scored 35 points to pace the team, adding in a 15-of-19 mark from the charity stripe. Anthony Brown chipped in with 16 points in the win, 10 of which came on his 10 attempted free throws. Stefan Nastic grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Cardinal on the boards.

Randle finished the regular season just behind Oregon's Joseph Young on the Pac-12 scoring leaderboard, and now he enters the quarterfinal round netting 19.4 ppg with a team-best 104 assists and 47 steals. Randle has also made a name for himself from the charity stripe, connecting on 88.4 percent of his attempts from the foul line. Brown (14.6 ppg) and Nastic (13.4 ppg) round out a trio of double-digit scorers for the Cardinal this season, while Brown's 6.9 rpg mark just beats out Nastic's 6.5 rpg. Stanford's offense was one of the best in the Pac-12 this season, and currently averages 72.5 ppg on 43.5 percent shooting. The Cardinal have struggled a bit on defense though, allowing 67.4 ppg to opponents.

Vanderbilt will try to ride some of its young players through to the semifinal round, and perhaps Baldwin will outdo himself once again. Still, as long as Randle, Brown and Nastic are on their game, and the Cardinal are playing at home, Stanford should prevail.