Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s Senior Night win against Vanderbilt
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Game day: No. 15 Kentucky 93, Vanderbilt 77
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 93-77 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena:
1. No one heats up faster than Rob Dillingham
In its home finale, playing a Vanderbilt team it had waxed by 32 points last month in Nashville, Kentucky found itself trailing the visiting Commodores 30-25 with under five minutes left in the first half.
And then, boom, just like that, the Cats caught fire.
Specifically, Rob Dillingham caught fire. The freshman guard hit a shot from the left baseline for his first points of the night. Then Dillingham scored on a drive. Ugonna Onyenso produced a putback basket which served as a brief break in the Rob run.
With 2:26 left in the half, Dillingham made both ends of a one-and-one bonus situation at the foul line. Next possession, he fed an open Reed Sheppard, who buried a 3-pointer from the right wing. Then Dillingham hit back-to-back 3-pointers of his own. And when Antonio Reeves drained a triple of his own just before the halftime buzzer, Kentucky had scored on eight straight possessions. And had a 45-40 lead.
When Dillingham heats up like that, “it can be demoralizing for the opponent,” Calipari said.
“He’s shifty,” said Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse, who mentioned he first remembered seeing Dillingham play as a ninth grader and thought he might be too small. He doesn’t think that anymore. “He’s grown.”
Stackhouse also said this: “Kentucky’s a talented offensive team, best I’ve seen since I’ve probably been here.”
2. No one is more consistent than Antonio Reeves
It was just another ho-hum game for Antonio Reeves, UK’s senior guard who on Senior Night produced another ho-hum 20 points. Reeves was 8-for-17 from the floor, though he did miss four of his five 3-point shots. He was 3-for-3 from the foul line, grabbed six rebounds and dished four assists.
That was Reeves’ 17th game of 20 or more points. It was 29th double-figure scoring game out of 30 Kentucky has played this season. The outlier was his nine points against North Carolina in UK’s CBS Sports Classic victory over the Tar Heels.
With Tennessee clinching the regular-season conference title thanks to its 66-59 victory at South Carolina on Wednesday night, Vols’ forward Dalton Knecht is the probable favorite for SEC Player of the Year. But no one has been more consistent than Reeves, who is on track to be just the second 20 points per game scorer in the Calipari era. Jamal Murray was the first. Not bad company.
3. No one will want to miss Saturday’s game
As we mentioned, Tennessee clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville. That doesn’t mean the Vols will be lacking motivation when Kentucky comes to Knoxville on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tipoff for the regular-season finale. Rick Barnes’ team has a legitimate shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, Kentucky will be looking for revenge after losing 103-92 to Tennessee at Rupp back on Feb. 3. The Cats shot 50.7% that game and made 12 of 27 3-point shots but still lost, thanks in part to Tennessee making more free throws (19-for-26 compared to UK’s 12-for-19) and grabbing more rebounds (44-38). Tennessee was also credited with 22 assists.
Kentucky needs a Saturday win to have a shot at a double-bye in the conference tournament. More important, a Kentucky win at Thompson-Boling would give the Cats a confidence boost going into postseason play.
This story was originally published March 7, 2024 at 1:02 AM.
