UK POSTGAME NOTES: Wildcats Overcome Pesky Vanderbilt 77-70
Compiled by UK Athletics
VANDERBILT at KENTUCKY RUPP ARENA at CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY FEB. 2, 2022
ATTENDANCE: 19,418
Final Score: No. 5/7 Kentucky 77, Vanderbilt 70
Team Records, Series Notes, Etc.
· Kentucky is now 18-4 on the season and has won three in a row. UK is 7-2 in the SEC.
· Vanderbilt is 11-10, 3-6 in the SEC.
· In 200 meetings between the teams, the Wildcats lead the overall series 153-47 and have won the last 12 matchups.
o UK leads 85-14 in games played in Lexington and has won the last 14 in Rupp Arena vs. VU.
· Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats embark on a two-game road swing beginning Saturday at Alabama. Game time is 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa) and it will be televised on ESPN.
Team Notes
· Kentucky is 14-0 at home this season and has won its last 15 games in Rupp Arena.
· Kentucky forced 18 turnovers, third-most of the season, leading to a crucial 15-3 advantage to points off turnovers.
· With the help of the turnovers, Kentucky managed to win despite shooting only 38.6 percent from the field. UK is now 2-4 this season when being outshot by the opponent.
· Entering the game as the SEC’s leading team in assist/turnover ratio (+1.42), the Wildcats had 16 assists and only 10 turnovers tonight. It is the fifth time in the last eight games that UK has had 10 or fewer miscues.
· Kentucky led by as many as 16 points. UK is 303-13 (95.9%) under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest.
Player Notes
· After scoring 27 points Saturday at Kansas, Keion Brooks Jr. had 20 points tonight, the first back-to-back 20-point games of his career.
o After getting off to a slow start, he came on strong in the second half, keeping Vanderbilt at bay with 13 points in the final stanza.
· Oscar Tshiebwe collected 11 points and 17 rebounds.
o It is his 16th double-double of the season, ranking third in the nation in that category.
o The nation’s leading rebounder has grabbed double-figure boards in all but two games this season.
o He has nine straight games with double-figure rebounds, first Wildcat to do so since Julius Randle had 10 in a row in 2014.
o For the second game in a row, he had a career-high four steals. He has had at least three thefts in five of the last six games.
· Kellan Grady had 12 points, all coming on four 3-pointers.
o It is the fourth game in a row with four 3-pointers.
o Over the last 13 games he is averaging 14.2 points per game while shooting 48.1 percent from the field (62 of 129), including 46.5 percent (47 of 101) from 3-point range.
o Has made a 3-pointer in 16 straight games, most since Jamal Murray made a three in all 36 games of the 2015-16 season.
· Sahvir Wheeler contributed three points and a game-high nine assists.
o It is his fifth game this season with at least nine assists.
· Davion Mintz had a season-high and career-high-tying 21 points.
o It’s the third time in his career that he has notched 21 points.
o He has averaged 10.4 points over the last 10 games.
Coach John Calipari
· John Calipari is now 357-97 at UK.
o UK is 291-56 against unranked competition under Calipari.
· Calipari has an 802-237 all-time on-court record.
· Calipari has tallied a 374-118 all-time record within conference play as a head coach and owns a 166-52 record since joining the SEC.
· Calipari is 23-4 against Vanderbilt.
In the First Half
· The starting lineup was Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington Jr., Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwefor the 18th time this season. That lineup now has a 14-4 record.
· Davion Mintz was the first Kentucky substitution at the 17:42 mark, fifth time this season he has been first off the bench.
· Trailing 6-5, UK totaled 10 points on four straight possessions – capped by a four-point play by Mintz – to take a 15-9 lead.
· Vanderbilt responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead 18-15.
o Coach Calipari was called for a technical foul at 11:21, with VU making both foul shots.
· Kentucky came back with another 10-0 spurt to retake the lead at 25-18.
o Washington’s basket-and-one at 8:42 put UK ahead 21-18 and the Wildcats led the remainder of the game.
· UK pushed the lead to as many as 16 points at 38-22.
· VU hit three 3-pointers in the last 1:34 to narrow the count to 41-31 at halftime.
· Grady’s 12 points and 11 by Mintz helped offset the 17 points by Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr.
· UK is 17-2 this season when leading at intermission.
In the Second Half
· Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
· Vanderbilt steadily whittled the lead to 44-43 at the media timeout at 15:50.
· Coming out of the timeout, Mintz hit a 3-pointer, Brooks got a tip-in, Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse got a technical foul and Brooks made one of two free throws to put the lead back to 50-43.
o Two minutes later, two free throws by Mintz padded the count to 52-43.
· Trailing 56-46, Vanderbilt got back in it with a 7-0 run to make it 56-53.
· Kentucky had the next run, an 11-2 burst for a 67-55 lead at 5:57 that proved sufficient, as the Commodores got no closer than seven the remainder of the way.
· Brooks had 16 points and Mintz 10 in the second stanza.
