By David Schuh | Men’s basketball columnist

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It doesn’t matter what league you play in — comfortably winning a road conference game takes discipline.

UK didn’t dominate Vanderbilt University from the opening tip on Saturday. The Cats really never put them away for good.

But a 71-62 UK win was more impressive than the first look may have indicated.

The Cats kept the Commodores at a comfortable distance throughout the second half, a trait that is valuable to take with them in Southeastern Conference play. Vanderbilt never got closer than seven points from the lead over the final 13 minutes. For a team that has just seven scholarship players on roster, they will struggle to stay above .500 in conference play this season.

Many said UK should coast through the game and win by 20 points. However, the reality of road conference games is never that black and white.

Vanderbilt’s deficiencies aside, Memorial Gymnasium is a bizarre place to play, especially for the first time. Communication is hard. Sightlines are different. A nine-point win was the largest in John Calipari’s five trips to Nashville.

If that isn’t enough to impress, consider Vanderbilt’s second half.

The Commodores shot 63 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. They were perfect from the free throw line and made four three-pointers.

And UK increased its lead.

It wasn’t a resounding, resume-boosting win for the Cats. They missed nine free throws and 16 three-pointers.

But after leaving a strange, hostile road environment, a 2-0 start to SEC play must feel pretty good.

UK has occasionally relied on individuals this season. Whether its a double-double from Julius Randle or a big scoring night from James Young, one or two players have sometimes carried the Cats through their biggest runs down the stretch.

Saturday was a team win. The Cats dominated the rebounding margin (+13). They easily won the bench-scoring differential (+16).

Eight players scored for UK, with only three in double-digits. As they have the ability to do seemingly at will, the Cats’ depth wore their opponent out.

“The word (this year) is that we’re not a good team and we got selfish guys,” said sophomore forward Willie Cauley-Stein. “We really do have each other’s backs. We really do have good guys.”

Randle sits with leg cramps? Dakari Johnson logs nine minutes. Young goes scoreless until halftime? Jarrod Polson hits two three-pointers before the break.

That interchangeability will be critical as the season progresses. Calipari said his team had its best practice of the year on Friday. They didn’t parlay that into their best game on Saturday, but it may have shown something equally as valuable.

It was a blueprint for road wins — get ahead, defend and take care of the ball.

It worked against Vanderbilt. It’ll work again. And as the Cats continue to get better, a nine-point, grind-it-out win will become a 20-point, runaway one.