Kentucky prepared for "different element" in Vandy's Memorial Gym

Kentucky Basketball will play its fourth Southeastern Conference game tonight at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym, one of the odder venues in college basketball. You know, at Vanderbilt the team benches are behind the basket on each baseline, not along the sideline, and it presents a challenge for visiting teams unacquainted with the unique setup.

“It’s different,” said UK assistant coach Jai Lucas while previewing the Vanderbilt trip. “I think Keion (Brooks) may be the only one who played there when the benches have been normal. Last year when we played with the COVID, we were still on the sideline there.”

Lucas is correct. Brooks is the only Wildcat on the roster who was a part of Kentucky’s last true road game at Vanderbilt in 2020. Brooks played 12 minutes off the bench and contributed four points, three rebounds, and a block to the box score, a Kentucky win.

Then if Sahvir Wheeler plays tonight, he will add more Memorial Gym experience to Kentucky. Wheeler played in Nashville as a true freshman at Georgia in 2020, scoring 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field with a game-high five assists. The Bulldogs hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to upset the Commodores.

One more Wildcat who’s conditioned to Memorial Gym’s setup: Kellan Grady scored 16 for Davidson on a road trip to Vanderbilt on New Year’s Eve Eve 2020. Vanderbilt beat Grady’s other Wildcats in that game, 76-71, led by Scotty Pippen Jr. with 18 points.

Grady is prepared for his third run-in with Pippen Jr. and his second career game at Vandy.

“I got a taste of that,” Grady told reporters on Monday. “It’s definitely a little bit different than a typical arena we play in, but at the end of the day, the game and everything is going to be decided between the lines.”

“A different element”

For everyone else on Kentucky’s roster, the baseline view will be new and challenging. John Calipari made a point to prepare his team for the environment, according to Lucas, to say: “that it’s a different element that they’ve never had to deal with before.

“That it’s something we have to get accustomed to, which is hard in the short turnaround but just getting their minds set on the different points of reference that you have to deal with now,” he said.

Lucas can speak to the team as both a coach and former player. He started for Florida at Vanderbilt as a true freshman, playing 30 minutes in a 58-61 Gators’ loss.

“I remember my first time playing there,” Lucas told reporters. “It’s weird. It’s completely different because you get used to looking certain ways and knowing where the coaching staff is. Now you might be at the end of a game and you’re completely on the other side, offense/defense. It makes it hard trying to communicate.

“We just have to make sure that we have a good line of communication and getting them to understand how to look and how to get it relayed to the team.”