Kentucky Fights Through Lull, Fouls in 77-70 Victory over Vanderbilt

Kentucky snapped out of a sluggish start and a sloppy, foul-ridden second half to take down Vanderbilt 77-70 Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. The win is the Wildcats’ 12th straight over the Commodores. Despite what the scoreboard said, it did not come easily.

Sleepy Rupp Arena

Central Kentucky is preparing for an ice storm. A duel with Vanderbilt was not moving the needle in Lexington. A sluggish start was to be expected. Thankfully, John Calipari and Jacob Toppin were prepared to inject energy into Rupp Arena.

As the offense mulled about, a foul on Oscar Tshiebwe incensed Coach Cal. During the media timeout he lit into the officials, leading to a technical foul.

The BBN looked around and it was a tie ballgame ten minutes into the first half. That’s when Toppin stepped up. He turned one of his turnovers into one of the most impressive athletic feats of the season. The blocked shot from sparked a 23-4 Kentucky run.

The Wildcats entered intermission leading 41-31, with 11 assists on 14 made baskets.

Toppin BLOCK ➡️ TyTy AND ONE@Jtoppin0 🤝 @tytywashington3 pic.twitter.com/WXwhITYesS

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 3, 2022

Scotty Pippen’s Revenge

Scotty Pippen Jr. appears to take it personally every time he suits up against Kentucky. The Vanderbilt point guard got hot in a hurry, scoring 17 points in the first half. His buzzer-beater just before the horn sounded gave the Commodores much-needed momentum. Once trailing by 18 in the first half, Vandy scored 14 of the first 18 second half points to cut the UK lead to one.

Pippen lit up the scoreboard with 33 points, but the turnovers crippled the Commodores. The point guard gave it away six times and Vandy committed 18 total turnovers that turned into 15 UK points.

Grady, Mintz, Brooks are Money

When Vanderbilt threatened Kentucky, Davion Mintz played like a senior leader. He nailed one of his four three-pointers to get Kentucky out of the danger zone early in the second half. When Vandy later cut it to three, Mintz buried another big three in transition. He finished the night with a team-high 21 points.

For the second-straight game, Keion Brooks scored 20+ points. Sahvir Wheeler penetrated the paint with ease, leaving Brooks wide-open from midrange. He knocked down 7-of-15 shots to score 20 points, while Wheeler chipped in nine assists.

Kellan Grady was at his best when Kentucky was at its worst. Stale and sluggish in the first half, Grady buried four-of-five threes, his fourth straight game with at least four three-pointers. He ended the night with 12 points.

Oscar was typical Oscar. Tshiebwe struggled to finish near the rim, but made up for it on the glass by grabbing 17 rebounds. He did reach a double-double with 11 points and also added four steals.

A Whole Lot of Whistles

The game got chippy in the second half, to say the least. In addition to Calipari’s first half technical, Jerry Stackhouse threw off his jacket and received a T. Officials went to the monitor on a regular basis. The Big Blue Nation was treated to a double-foul and three flagrant fouls, including a pair on Tshiebwe.

Of the 44 personal fouls called in the 40-minute game, this was somehow not one of them.

😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/asYQdqc13p

— Big Blue Drew (@BigBlueDrew33) February 3, 2022

It was not the most beautiful game to watch, but the Wildcats got the win. On to Alabama.

Kentucky-Vandy Box SCore