Three takeaways as Kentucky basketball sweeps the Vanderbilt Commodores
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 77-70 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
1. Welcome to the letdown
John Calipari told his players not to eat the rat poison. They ate it anyway. There was all the back-patting after UK’s ultra-impressive 80-62 spanking of Kansas in Lawrence on Saturday. And, as feared, the Cats experienced the feared letdown on Wednesday night against the Commodores. The good news: Kentucky won anyway.
Kentucky won an ugly, physical game. There were a total of 44 fouls called — 26 on Vanderbilt; 18 on Kentucky. There were four flagrant fouls called, including two on UK’s Oscar Tshiebwe. Both Calipari and Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse each picked up a technical foul.
“I was trying to protect my players,” Calipari said. “I didn’t want anybody to get hurt.”
Kentucky won despite being outrebounded by the worst rebounding team in the SEC. The ‘Dores didn’t just win the battle of the boards, they won it 37-30. UK’s Oscar Tshiebwe did produce another double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds. But no other Cat had more than four. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt had three players with six or more rebounds, including Jordan Wright with 10.
Kentucky won despite shooting just 27.6 percent in the second half. “We just missed shots,” said Keion Brooks, who was 7-for-15 from the floor on the way to his second straight game of 20 or more points. “We had great looks that didn’t go down. That’s how it goes.”
UK’s starting guards finished with just 10 points. TyTy Washington finished with just seven points; Sahvir Wheeler managed just three. Luckily, Davion Mintz was on his game. And then some.
That leads us to takeaway two.
2. Davion Mintz goes from zero to hero
Mintz did not score in UK’s win at Lawrence. That’s OK. Given the play of his teammates, the Cats didn’t need much production from their top reserve guard. They needed it Wednesday. And Davion delivered, scoring a team-high 21 points.
“Davion (Mintz) played unbelievable today,” Calipari said. “Really, really good. You know who was happy for him? TyTy. That’s what this team has been.”
Mintz was 6-for-11 from the floor, including four of seven from three-point range. He was a perfect five of five from the foul line. He also had three rebounds, including a key offensive rebound off a missed free throw late in the game.
“If I took my sweater off you’d see all the scratches on my arms,” Mintz said afterward. “I was fighting for it.”
Mintz also had two assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 34 minutes. His plus/minus was a plus-15.
3. Calipari hopes he’s seen the last of Scotty Pippen Jr.
The Vanderbilt star scored 32 points in UK’s 78-66 win over the Commodores in Nashville. He topped that Wednesday, finishing with 33.
“He probably wants to play us five times a year,” Calipari said. “He must average 30 points against us.”
Pippen was 11 of 23 from the floor, including two of five from beyond the three-point arc. He was nine of 12 from the foul line, routinely disappointing the Rupp Arena crowd who were hoping for two straight misses for a free Chick-fil-A.
Vanderbilt pulled to within 44-43 with 15:43 left. With 9:28 left, Vandy trailed 56-53. It was then that the Cats went on an 11-2 run to stretch the lead to a dozen with 5:54 to play.
The Commodores dropped to 11-10 overall and 3-6 in the SEC.
Said Calipari, “I hope we don’t see them in the tournament.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 10:22 PM.
