‘Playing through Nick’ in second half fuels UK’s comeback at Vandy
With Kentucky trailing by nine points at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, John Calipari’s halftime instruction was simple and succinct.
“We’re playing through Nick,” the UK coach said, of course meaning big man Nick Richards. “This is what we’re doing. And let’s see how it works.”
It worked well. Richards scored eight of his 12 points in the second half. And when Vanderbilt began double-teaming Richards, that created space for open three-point shots. UK made all four of its three-point shots in the second half.
“Every play was going to throw it inside,” Tyrese Maxey said. “Either they’re going to double him, or he’s going to score.
“Nick, you can’t double because we’ve got pretty good shooters and pretty good attackers to make plays.”
Richards also impacted the game on defense. On Vandy’s first six possessions of the second half, he blocked three shots and altered two others. UK finished with 12 blocks, which was one shy of the season-high 13 against Lamar.
“Nick’s blocks, they help us fly in transition,” Maxey said.
Eight of UK’s 10 fast-break points came in the second half.
Advice for Sestina
It wasn’t the first time UK graduate transfer Nate Sestina had played at Vanderbilt. In his sophomore season, Bucknell won 75-72 at Vandy on Nov. 21, 2016.
Sestina played 16 minutes, scored five points and grabbed four rebounds in that game.
Sestina played eight-plus minutes on Tuesday. He did not score nor grab a rebound, although he blocked a season-high three shots.
To explain how he wanted Sestina to approach games, Calipari hearkened back to his days in the late 1990s as coach of the then-New Jersey Nets. The UK coach’s message seemed to be that a player should not dwell on defensive lapses, but instead should look to neutralize what points he surrenders with scores of his own.
Calipari’s story involved then-Nets forward Keith Van Horn having to defend future Hall of Famer Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz.
“Keith said to me, ‘I can’t guard him. How am I going to guard him?’” Calipari said. “I said, ‘I don’t think you can guard him, either.’”
When a puzzled player asked what the coach meant, Calipari said he told Van Horn to try to outscore Malone.
“I’m telling Nate, ‘You’re getting beat pretty bad on stuff,’” Calipari said. “‘OK. You give up six, eight points. Score nine. Make some baskets. Don’t worry about what you don’t do. Worry about what you do for us.”
Puncher’s chance
Vanderbilt came into the game having won only once since December. The Commodores’ NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rating of 152 was the worst in the Southeastern Conference. It was also worse than five teams based in Kentucky: Louisville seven, UK 21, Murray State 139, Western Kentucky 121 and Northern Kentucky 140.
Stats savant Ken Pomeroy gave Kentucky a 79-percent chance of winning. The only remaining game that Pomeroy gave UK a better chance of winning comes Saturday against visiting Ole Miss: 84 percent.
Yet, Vandy led 36-27 at halftime, and for 27 minutes and four seconds overall.
Calipari had a simple explanation.
“If they make shots, they’re going to win games,” he said of the Commodores. “That’s what it is.”
To borrow from boxing, Vandy gave itself a puncher’s chance by making 11 of 28 three-point shots. That was the second-most Vandy has made since leading scorer and shot-maker Aaron Nesmith suffered an injury that has sidelined him since Jan. 8.
Vandy made 12 threes in beating No. 18 LSU here last week.
Winning streaks
Kentucky beat Vanderbilt for an eighth straight time. That equaled the fourth-longest active winning streak UK has against any SEC team. UK has also beaten Arkansas eight straight times.
Kentucky’s longest active winning streaks are 14 straight against Georgia and Mississippi State.
UK can gain its 11th straight victory over Ole Miss on Saturday.
Ex-Cats at game
At least two former UK players attended the game.
Chuck Hayes, who played for Kentucky from 2001-02 through 2004-05, is a scout for the Houston Rockets.
Tayshaun Prince, who played for Kentucky from 1998-99 through 2001-02, is vice president of basketball affairs for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Attendance
Vandy came into the game ranked ninth among SEC teams in home attendance. The Commodores’ average attendance was 9,135. Memorial Gym has a listed capacity of 14,316.
The average home attendance of 9,135 was the third-lowest for Vanderbilt since the 1966-67 season. The Commodores averaged 8,843 fans in 2001-02 and 8,862 in 2014-15.
The announced attendance of 11,598 was the second-largest crowd for a Vandy home game this season. The largest was 12,693 for the Jan. 18 game against Tennessee.
First place
By beating Vanderbilt, UK retained a share of first place in the Southeastern Conference. UK improved to 9-2 in the SEC and 19-5 overall.
LSU improved to 9-2 by beating Missouri 82-78.
Auburn was able to return first place to a three-way tie if it beat Alabama on Wednesday night.
This story was originally published February 12, 2020 at 12:06 AM.
