Kentucky mens basketball’s win over Vanderbilt by the numbers
Kentucky Wildcats guard Cason Wallace (22) passes the ball during the Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt mens basketball game on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. Kentucky won 69-53. Photo by Jack Weaver | Staff
January 25, 2023
Kentucky mens basketball defeated Vanderbilt 69-53 inside Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday.
As is the case with any sporting event, the win brought a plethora of interesting statistical tidbits that all come together to form an interesting pattern.
Case in point: by the numbers, Kentucky secured its victory over Vanderbilt twice, and both points came with over 19 minutes left to play.
How could this be?
The first time Kentucky ‘called game’ was at halftime, when the Cats took a 36-27 lead into the break after a designed play led to UK forward Jacob Toppin having an easy layup down low.
Kentucky entered the game standing at a perfect 10-0 on the season when leading at halftime and 1-0 when tied at halftime. The win over Vanderbilt ensured that Kentucky will enter its next matchup standing at an unwavering 12-0 on the season when not trailing at halftime.
The second time Kentucky seemed to clinch victory before the whistle came less than 30 seconds into the second half when freshman point guard Cason Wallace drained a 3-pointer that gave Kentucky a 39-27 lead.
Since Kentucky head coach John Calipari arrived in Lexington in 2009, the Cats have won 96.1% of the time when leading by 10 points at any point in the game.
For an actual record, with the win over the Commodores, Kentucky is now 321-13 when holding a 10-point lead at any time under Calipari.
Kentucky also secured its victory in another way as well, though the third sealing factor wouldn’t be official until the final whistle, with the Cats entering the game 85-0 when holding opponents to 55 points or less.
Keeping the Commodores to just 53 points in the game, Kentucky improved to 86-0.
The patterns don’t stop there, though.
Kentucky also held the Commodores to shooting just 33% from the field, with the Wildcats winning 90.5% (228-24) of the time when holding opponents below 40%.
All that said, Kentucky already had a high chance of winning the game heading in purely based on the opponent, with the win in Nashville marking the 14th consecutive victory over the Commodores, with Vandy’s most recent win over Kentucky taking place on Feb. 27, 2016.
Looking at numbers, the win was also significant for several individual reasons, with the win getting Calipari within one win of surpassing the late former LSU basketball coach Harry Rabenhorst for sixth in the all-time SEC wins category.
For the team as a whole, the win marked the fourth consecutive victory, which tied the largest winning streak of the season, and, in combination with No. 9 Kansas’ recent losing streak, got the Cats back within six games of once again becoming the highest-winning college basketball program of all time.
For individual players, reigning consensus National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe recorded 13 rebounds in the win over Vandy, which saw him jump three spots up to No. 18 in the all-time Kentucky career rebounding list.
Tshiebwe surpassed Jamal Mashburn (760), Tayshaun Prince (757) and Mike Phillips (755) on the list.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler’s five assists also saw him get within two assists of surpassing Keith Bogans (314) to take the No. 16 spot in the all-time Kentucky assist leader list.
With the Wildcats set to face off against No. 9 Kansas on Saturday, Jan. 28, inside Rupp Arena, the team will have a pivotal chance to gain more ground in once again becoming the winningest college basketball program, while Calipari, Tshiebwe and Wheeler will all individually have chances to further improve their own person records as well.
Tipoff against the Jayhawks is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST and will air live on ESPN.
