No. 15 Kentucky men’s basketball conquered the Vanderbilt Commodores 93-77 inside Rupp Arena in the final home game of the season on Wednesday.
The game served as the Cats’ senior day, with veterans Tre Mitchell, Antonio Reeves and Kareem Watkins being honored prior to the start of the game.
Kentucky entered the game on the back of a high-scoring affair, defeating Arkansas 111-102 inside Rupp Arena the weekend prior.
Looking to end the home slate with a win, Kentucky brought out a starting lineup of Reeves, Mitchell, Watkins, Ugonna Onyenso and D.J. Wagner, though Watkins quickly subbed out for Justin Edwards.
Getting things underway, it wouldn’t be easy for head coach John Calipari and the Cats, with Kentucky starting ice cold from the field.
Not even Kentucky’s usual substitutions of Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham and Zvonimir Ivišić were able to breathe some life into the lineup, with the Cats trailing for much of the first half.
Things would reach their peak when the Commodores held a six-point lead before Kentucky was able to get back within three.
Kentucky would not stay silent for the entire first half, however, bursting to life in the final minutes and finally beginning to connect with 3-pointers consistently to take the lead in the contest.
With Reeves nailing a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the half, the Cats took a five-point advantage — their largest up to that point — into halftime.
Both teams struggled to find buckets to start the second half but, when scoring did resume, Kentucky continued to hold the advantage in the contest.
The game would only stay close for so long, however, as Kentucky jumped ahead to a double-digit lead with over seven minutes remaining after a strong performance from Dillingham.
This would only be further exasperated by the time Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse called a timeout with around four minutes remaining on the clock.
With Kentucky holding, and maintaining, a strong lead late, Vanderbilt had no chance to crawl back into the contest and was defeated inside Rupp Arena, granting the Cats revenge for the loss to end the home slate one season prior.
Kentucky will return to action when it concludes its regular season on Saturday, March 9, from Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville against the SEC regular season champions in the Tennessee Volunteers. Tip-off against the Vols is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS Sports.
