After an impressive road win at Arkansas, UK had the opportunity to build even more momentum with a win against a talented Vanderbilt team. The Cats were able to do just that as they came out on top with a 76-57 victory over the Commodores.

With junior Derek Willis making his second straight appearance in the starting lineup, UK started the game in the unfamiliar position of being undersized. Vanderbilt started two seven-footers in Damian Jones and Luke Kornet.

The size-mismatch proved to have little effect on UK as the Cats started the game throwing it down low to senior Alex Poythress, who went right at 7’1” Kornet. 

“I thought this would be a hard one for him because of their size,” head coach John Calipari said. “But he proves if he just plays as an athlete and not as a bully, he just jumps and he’s long and he can do it.”

Poythress scored UK’s first four points and would go on to score 16 points total on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting. The forward scored in multiple ways throughout the game for the Cats, even putting on display an impressive hop-step layup through the lane and a nice jump-hook on the low-block.

“We need him, a lot more than he knows it,” freshman Jamal Murray said. “As one of the captains and veterans here, he has that responsibility and he is doing a good job at that. A lot of the freshmen here are all looking up to him and are trying to figure out (how to) play.”

When it wasn’t Poythress attacking for UK it was the 5’9” floor general Tyler Ulis. UK’s point guard play has been nothing short of great over the past couple games and his hot streak continued against the Commodores.

After a slow shooting start against the Razorbacks in UK’s last game, Ulis wasted no time getting started against Vanderbilt hitting his first shot, a three, to get going.

The sophomore “little guy,” as Calipari refers to him in practice, then got the crowd on their feet as he went right at the Commodores frontline and finished an and-one over one of their seven-footers.

“He has a great understanding of the game. He plays at a great pace,” Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings said. “He doesn’t get sped up. He can make shots. He’s a great layup maker. He’s got good vision. He’s really got everything. He actually utilizes his size to his advantage. He creates advantages with his stature. That’s a unique skill.”

Ulis finished the game with a team-high 21 points and five assists.

Ulis picked up two fouls in the first half, which caused him to sit for an extended time. UK’s offense was disorganized without him on the court, but the Cats were able to take a ten-point lead into halftime. 

The second half started much like the first with Poythress scoring six straight points for the Cats. From there it was Murray who took over the game for UK.

After having a thunderous dunk in the first half, Murray started the second half right where he left off, scoring nine points in the half including six points in under a minute off a three-point basket and an and-one layup. 

The Canadian guard finished with 18 points in the game and went 3-for-6 from behind the arc to keep his streak of making a three in every game this season alive.

UK took its largest lead of 23 points with a little over four minutes left in the game. That was thanks to runs of 12-to-2 and 9-to-1. It also helped that the Cats were outscoring Vanderbilt in the paint 34 to 18 and that the team was locked in on defense.

Vanderbilt came into the matchup with UK ranked 10th in the country in three-point field goal percentage at 40.8 percent. The Cats were able to bring that down to 33 percent while also forcing 12 turnovers.

“I think we got a lot better today,” Ulis said. “We just went out there and fought. Me and (Poythress) were just talking about it in the locker room that this game felt a little like last year on the defensive end.”

Other Notes

• Junior Derek Willis had trouble shooting in his second straight start going 2-for-8, but he was able to make an impact on the glass and by making hustle plays. He finished with seven points, nine rebounds and a steal.
• After an impressive showing at Arkansas, freshman Skal Labissiere only saw two minutes of action. Calipari said after that game that he made the decision because of matchups and not because Labissiere did anything wrong.
• Tonight’s win marked Calipari’s 100^th SEC victory at UK. He did so in 125 games which is tied for second-fastest among UK coaches.