No. 17 Kentucky men’s basketball earned its revenge in an 82-61 thumping of Vanderbilt inside Rupp Arena on Wednesday.
The win avenged then UK’s 74-69 loss in Nashville on Jan. 25.
Kentucky entered the contest on the back of a disappointing loss on the road against the Texas Longhorns. The Cats had led for much of the contest before crumbling in the final minutes to fall to 2-5 on the road.
Looking to bounce back from an upsetting defeat, Kentucky brought out a starting lineup that consisted of Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, Travis Perry, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. The game notably marked Carr’s return to the starting lineup as he replaced Ansley Almonor and it also saw Perry, a freshman from Lyon County, Kentucky, make his second ever start.
Things got off to a fast start offensively as both teams found themselves in a 15-12 ballgame just under five minutes in with both shooting 71% or better from the field.
UK fans were also quickly treated to the additions of Ansley Almonor, Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah and Collin Chandler, the latter of which would go on to have his best game in UK blue.
This shootout would continue by the 12-minute timeout as the score stood at 23-21 and neither side could seem to miss a shot.
Despite consistently failing to pull away, UK would maintain a steady lead for much of the first half before disaster would strike on offense for Head Coach Mark Pope.
With just under three minutes remaining in the half, Kentucky would go ice cold from the floor and find itself trailing by one point.
Despite the hiccup and a strong first half from former Boston College Eagle Devin McGlockton for Vanderbilt, Kentucky would take a one-point lead into the halftime break.
Back out for the second half of action, Kentucky put its foot on the gas pedal straight away, jumping ahead further with a 6-0 scoring run that forced Vanderbilt Head Coach Mark Byington to call a timeout.
While the Commodores would have the gumption to get back within three, Kentucky blew the game wide open with a 9-0 scoring run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from Carr to make the lead double digits.
Kentucky would get its advantage up to 15 before a few empty possessions would see the Commodores get back within 12 with just under seven minutes to play.
From there, however, it would be all Wildcats as, by the time the official’s whistle blew for a timeout with 3:22 remaining, UK was up by 20 points.
With the game firmly out of reach, Kentucky easily cruised to a home revenge win over the Commodores, who are still fighting to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky men’s basketball will return to road action on Saturday, Feb. 22, inside Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa to face the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. UK’s second revenge match in a row is set to tipoff at 6 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.
