FINAL: Kentucky avoids three-game losing skid, blows out Vanderbilt 109-77

There’s nothing like playing a bad Vanderbilt team to help get you back on track…

On Tuesday night in Nashville, the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats (16-6; 6-4 SEC) had no issue at all taking down the lowly Vanderbilt Commodores (6-16; 1-8 SEC), winning by a blowout score of 109-77 inside a quiet Memorial Gymnasium.

Kentucky’s offense was firing on all cylinders from start to finish. The ‘Cats shot a combined 55.4 percent from the field and an even more efficient clip of 15-26 from beyond the arc. UK dominated the battle on the glass (50-28), owned the paint points (48-14), and out-worked Vanderbilt in transition scoring (30-6). Kentucky hit all 12 of its free throws, too. The outcome was never in doubt.

Six different Wildcats finished in double-figures, led by a pair of 20-point scorers in Antonio Reeves (24) and Rob Dillingham (20). Justin Edwards finally had his breakout performance, finishing with 17 points on 5-10 shooting. Zvonimir Ivisic (11 points, seven rebounds), Jordan Burks (13 points, five rebounds), and Aaron Bradshaw (12 points, seven rebounds) all reached double-digits, as well.

Kentucky was once again without starting point guard DJ Wagner, who missed his third straight game with a nagging ankle injury. Additionally, fifth-year forward Tre Mitchell was also ruled out as he recovers from a back issue. Luckily for the ‘Cats, their presence was not needed. The rest of the team showed up in their place.

It was the Dillingham & Reeves Show in the first half. The sharpshooting backcourt duo combined to score 29 of Kentucky’s 54 points in the opening half. After Vanderbilt was able to keep pace early on — it was 9-8 in favor of UK after four minutes of action — it was all ‘Cats everything the rest of the way.

A Dillingham three-pointer with 13:28 in the first half gave Kentucky its first double-digit lead of the night. The Wildcats’ advantage would balloon to 20 with 6:47 left until the intermission before settling on a score of 54-38 once we hit the break. UK shot over 58 percent from the floor and a red-hot 10-14 from deep (Dillingham and Reeves combined to go 7-8) while holding Vanderbilt to just a 38.2 percent overall mark.

To the Commodores’ credit, they came out ready to play in the second half. While they could never truly cut into Kentucky’s deficit, they did prevent the ‘Cats from exploding the lead to 30-plus early on. It wasn’t until we hit the midway point that Kentucky began to put the game away for good. Edwards finally got himself rolling too, slam dunking his way to a new career-high in points while scoring in double-figures for the first time in SEC play.

Thanks to an emphatic dunk from Burks, who also finished with a career-high in points, Kentucky would reach the 100-point mark by the final media timeout. UK’s lead eventually reached 30 down the stretch before ending with a 32-point win.

Up next: Kentucky will return home to Rupp Arena this Saturday for an out-of-conference showdown against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. EST on CBS.