LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – In a week when top tournament seeds are dropping with surprising frequency, Kentucky came into its SEC Tournament opener determined not to be one of them.
The Wildcats had to work till the end to fight off a dogged Vanderbilt team that had already won a pair of tournament games – and had upset Alabama the night before – but were solid all night to pull out a 77-71 victory in Tampa, Fla.
They had to be solid. Vandy led by seven points heading toward the first media timeout of the second half, then Kentucky shifted into another gear. They got their transition game going and hit Vandy with a 17-1 run in a span of just over five minutes.
But the Commodores responded with 6-0 run of their own. They trailed by only four at 73-69 in the final minute, and might've gotten a bit more time to fashion some kind of comeback when Jacob Toppin appeared to land out of bounds while saving a rebound, but officials apparently didn't review it, and Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse may not have known to raise the issue.
Regardless, Kentucky made all the plays it had to make late.
"Give Vanderbilt a lot of credit," UK coach John Calipari said. "We thought we could get into their legs in the second half, but we never did. . . . We fought. I thought Jacob (Toppin) and Davion (Mintz) played unbelievably well. It looks like Jacob may have a broken nose, I don't know. But he played with it, and that showed us a lot."
Ty Ty Washington was outstanding. He had 25 points on 8 of 17 shooting. Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocks. Sahvir Wheeler added 8 points and 11 assists. Toppin came off the bench with 10 key points and blocked three shots. Mintz added 10 points and 5 assists.
Kentucky shot 49% from the field (30 of 61) and went 10 of 13 from the free-throw lines. It outrebounded Vanderbilt 37-27. Just as important, it was able to keep Vandy off the free-throw line (it shot only 10) and weather the Commodores 11-for-28 three-point shooting.
Vandy's Jordan Wright led all scorers with 27 points and made 5 of 6 three-point shots. But the Wildcats held Scottie Pippin Jr. to just 10 points on 2 of 17 shooting.
The Wildcats move on to Saturday's 2:30 SEC semifinal against Tennessee.
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