Jerry Stackhouse on Kentucky: "I hope they win it all"

Jerry Stackhouse had his Vanderbilt Commodores ready to play heading into the 2022 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, fully aware that the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes relied on a successful run.

Vanderbilt came into the postseason 15-15 on the season and 7-11 in league play, pitting them into the bottom four of the conference standings. This meant the ‘Dores would need to win five games in five days spread across Wednesday through Sunday in order to earn a bid for the NCAAs. And they went pretty far, all things considered.

In the team’s SEC Tournament opener on Wednesday against a Georgia squad desperate for their season to end, Vanderbilt cruised to its easiest victory in months, smacking the Bulldogs 86-51 in what would end up being the last game as head coach for UGA’s Tom Crean. A little over 24 hours later, Vandy pulled off a semi-predictable upset over Alabama in a slugfest that saw both teams shoot a combined 69 free throws throughout the contest.

Now the ‘Dores were serious, and lead guard Scotty Pippen Jr. was looking like the best player in the tournament field so far. Unfortunately, tired legs near the end of the third game on the third day saw the Kentucky Wildcats pull away down the stretch with a 77-71 win. The victory pushed UK into the semifinals and killed Vanderbilt’s NCAA Tournament chances, but Stackhouse still plans to root for the ‘Cats moving forward in spite of that.

“They earned the right. They had a two-day bye, they came in here with fresh legs” Stackhouse said postgame of Kentucky. “You always wonder whether it’s rest versus rust, will they come out and be a little step slow? But no, I thought they came out with great energy from the start. Hats off to them. I sit here and talk about what we didn’t do, they did a lot of things well.

“They beat us and I hope they win it all, honestly. They’re the team that beat us, hopefully they wind up winning it all.“

Jerry Stackhouse gives plenty of credit to Kentucky, said he hopes they go all the way. "They did a lot of things well. They beat us, and I hope they win it all."

— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) March 12, 2022

Stackhouse was referring to the SEC Tournament, but we’ll go ahead and assume he’ll be rooting for Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, too.

The head coach can take solace in knowing that Vanderbilt played a hell of a game. The ‘Dores even held a seven-point lead early in the second half before UK made its momentum-shifting run. Scotty Pippen Jr. was held in check on a 2-17 shooting clip, but it was Jordan Wright who picked up the slack en route to a game-high 27 points on 10-12 shooting and a 5-6 clip from beyond the arc. It was a formidable run from a team that appeared to be piecing the puzzle together, unfortunately there just weren’t enough games on the schedule to take full advantage of it.

Kentucky is just two games away from making Stackhouse proud. The Wildcats will take on Tennessee in a rubber match set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. before potentially fighting for the program’s 32nd tournament crown on Sunday afternoon.