Three takeaways as Kentucky basketball rallies for win at Vanderbilt
Three takeaways from Kentucky’s come-from-behind 78-64 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday night in Nashville:
1. Overall, UK is a pretty coachable team
John Caliapri might not always think so. In the postgame press conference, the Kentucky coach said the challenge with this team has been getting the players to do the hard things, to not always take the easy way out. “No excuses” is the motto he wants to follow.
That doesn’t mean they ignore instructions, however. Down 36-27 at the half to a team with a 1-9 record in the SEC, the now 61-year-old Calipari was calm in the visitors’ locker room. He pointed to Vanderbilt’s eight made three-pointers in the first half. And he told his team to play through center Nick Richards to start the second half.
And that’s exactly what the Cats did. Richards changed the energy of the second half by blocking Vanderbilt’s first shot, swatting away Dylan Disu’s attempt. That led to an Ashton Hagans’ fast break at the other end. Next time down the floor, Richards scored on a hook shot from the right baseline. Then he blocked two more Vanderbilt shots and the Cats were off and running.
If Richards set the tone, his teammates followed the feeling. Tyrese Maxey ended up with a game-high 25 points. Hagans had 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Immanuel Quickley drilled back-to-back three-pointers inside the four-minute mark just when Vanderbilt had cut the Kentucky lead to 62-57. And by the end UK had its eighth straight win over Vanderbilt and fourth straight in Nashville.
2. Tyrese Maxey experienced a breakthrough
It wasn’t the freshman guard’s 25 points that impressed Calipari. It was the way Maxey put his nose in there for loose balls, deflected passes on defense and took the ball to the rim that had the Kentucky coach singing the praises of the Texas guard.
Maxey made 10 of 17 shots on the right, including three of four from three-point range and was a perfect two of two from the foul line. He had a couple of turnovers, but Maxey also had two steals and two blocked shots.
“For the first time, he played through the bumps,” said Calipari, and we all know “playing through the bumps” ranks high on the Calipari wish list.
The coach also pointed to the fact that down the stretch the Wildcats benefit from “having three point guards on the floor.” It leads to better decisions, said the coach, decisions that have improved as the season has progressed. Hagans cut his turnovers down to one, and that one happened on the game’s second possession. Quickley was a perfect seven of seven from the foul line. Again.
But Calipari seemed most pleased with Maxey’s play. He admitted he has been hard on the freshman, trying to bring that toughness out of a player who sometimes seem to float instead of focus. He didn’t Tuesday, which helped UK bounce back from a 14-point first half deficit.
3. It’s true, Kentucky is glad to be through with Vanderbilt
It’s true. The Commodores led the Cats by seven at the half in the first meeting between the two teams in Rupp Arena. UK rallied for a 71-62 victory. Tuesday night, Vandy upped the halftime lead to nine points. And Kentucky outscored the Commodores 51-28 in the second half for the 14-point victory.
Still, Jerry Stackhouse’s team is playing much better than it did earlier in the year when it got off to an 0-8 league start, extending its SEC losing streak to a conference record 26 games. It rekindled some Memorial magic with a 99-90 win over LSU. It played tough at Mississippi State before giving way and losing 80-70 on Saturday.
Then Tuesday it went 8-for-15 from three-point range in the first half against the Cats. It also outrebounded Kentucky in the first half. And the Commodores played with a confidence and an aggressiveness you don’t normally see from a team that has struggled for so long. That’s a credit to Stackhouse.
“I’m glad we don’t have to play them again,” said Calipari, though it’s conceivable the two teams could meet in the SEC Tournament.
As for the Cats, they return home to play Ole Miss on Saturday in a 2 p.m. start. Then it’s on to LSU, which entered Tuesday night’s play in a three-way tie with Kentucky and Auburn at 8-2, atop the league standings.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 10:53 PM.
