Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win at Vanderbilt
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 82-78 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday night in Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville:
1. That’s two wins in a row at crunch time for the Cats
For a team that either collapsed down the stretch or couldn’t make the plays when it counted, Kentucky appears to be finally figuring out how to close. Saturday, the Cats squeezed out an 82-80 win over Auburn in Rupp Arena. Four days later, John Calipari’s club survived for the four point win in Music City.
Free throws were the big difference. Kentucky was 24 of 25 from the foul line for the game. They made their last 17 in a row, including eight in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Jacob Toppin hit two free throws with 30.7 second left to make the score 76-73 UK. Toppin then made two more with 19.1 left to make the score 78-75 UK. Brandon Boston sank two foul shots with 9.3 left for an 80-75 Kentucky lead. And Devin Askew sealed the deal with a pair of free throws with just 2.7 seconds remaining to improve UK’s record to 6-7 in the SEC and 7-13 overall.
“Those free throws are daggers, too,” Calipari said after the game.
The Cats did make a couple of costly turnovers late that allowed the Commodores to turn a 62-55 deficit with 7 minutes left into a one-point game with 1:02 remaining. After that, however, Vanderbilt’s Jordan Wright missed two free throws with 32.5 second left that would have put the Commodores ahead.
“That’s a happy locker room,” Calipari said afterward. “They made a run, but we didn’t fold.”
2. Jacob Toppin was the Star of the Game
Yes, the SEC Network TV crew bestowed Star of the Game honors on Mintz, and the graduate transfer did score 18 points and knock down another clutch three, this one with 1:40 left to push Kentucky’s lead back out to 74-68.
But I would have handed the honor to Toppin, the 6-foot-8 sophomore who was not even supposed to play this year after transferring from Rhode Island. Until the NCAA went soft on its normal one-year ineligibility rule for transfers — and rightfully so in this COVID-19 year — Toppin was expected to learn in practice and watch games from the bench.
Thankfully, he has been able to play right away and make the most of the situation. Wednesday, with Isaiah Jackson and Olivier Sarr battling foul trouble, Toppin scored 16 points, 12 in the second half. He was five of nine from the floor, made one of his two three-point attempts, was a perfect five of five from the foul line, grabbed four rebounds and made two assists.
When Vanderbilt cut the Kentucky lead to 53-51, Toppin scored off a drive while being fouled, then hit the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play with 10:04 remaining. He hit a jumper from the left baseline at the 7:23 mark to make it 62-53 Cats. Later, he nailed a huge three-pointer from the left corner for a 67-60 Kentucky advantage with 3:58 remaining.
And don’t forget the aforementioned free throws with 30.7 and 19.1 seconds remaining that helped salt away the win.
“Mentality that you’re going to make that shot,” Toppin said afterward. “I had all the confidence in the world I was going to make those free throws when it mattered.”
3. Heading to Knoxville, Kentucky’s confidence level is up
Thanks to the weather in the Commonwealth, the Cats are staying in Tennessee the entire week, having arrived in Nashville on Monday and now heading to Knoxville on Thursday for Saturday’s 1 p.m. matchup with Tennessee.
They do so as a team that is obviously playing with more confidence. After the 82-71 loss to Tennessee in Rupp on Feb. 6, the Cats took a red-hot Arkansas team to the wire before losing 81-80, then snapped a four-game losing streak with the win over Auburn. Now, they’ve put together back-to-back victories fro the first time since Jan. 5 (77-74 over Vanderbilt) and Jan. 9 (76-58 at Florida).
“We’re still learning as a team,” Toppin said. “We’re getting better. We’re still making a few mistakes, but with experience we’re going to keep them. We’ve got to keep pushing.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 10:05 PM.
