Explosive runs allow Kentucky to survive physical game against Vanderbilt

The second meeting between Kentucky and Vanderbilt will not go down as one of the best in the SEC this season. With 43 total fouls, 28 total turnovers, 56 total free throws, a pair of technicals, and some flagrant fouls, both teams crawled across the finish line.

After 40 minutes of game action that lasted nearly 2.5 hours, Kentucky walked away from Rupp Arena with a 77-70 win to improve to 7-2 in league play at the halfway point.

The Wildcats have won 12 in a row over the Commodores, and Jerry Stackhouse has yet to beat John Calipari. Kentucky was forced to play a grinder with hand-to-hand fighting on nearly every possession but still found a way to leave the court victorious.

KSR is now jumping into the box score to pull the data that told the story in the 18th win of the season.

Vanderbilt won more rounds but Kentucky landed the haymakers

College basketball is a 40-minute game split between two halves. Most contests feature over 140 possessions with a lot that can happen each time up the floor. To slice the pie up, games can often be decided by the 10 four-minute segments throughout the matchup broken up by media timeouts.

Vanderbilt found a way to win that battle 6-4, but Kentucky came away with a victory due to its ability to create big scoring runs.

After the under-8 timeout in the first half, Kentucky went on a 13-4 blitz to extend their lead to 34-22 before heading to the break up 41-31. That would provide the home favorite with enough cushion for most of the night.

After Vanderbilt cut the lead to one in the second half with an early flurry, Kentucky went on a quick 10-3 blitz to extend a lead to 54-46 heading into the under-12 timeout. That would create enough space to get to the finish line.

Vanderbilt was able to grind and win more segments, but the explosive runs from Kentucky proved to be too much in the seven-point victory.

Takeaways equal points

For the season, Kentucky has done some good things on defense. The Wildcats are an elite defensive rebounding team who also ranks in the top-60 in both two-point percentage defense and three-point percentage defense. UK does a good job of guarding without fouling, but the Wildcats simply do not force turnovers.

Kentucky entered Tuesday ranking No. 214 in turnover percentage (18.1%) and were 11 out of 14 in the SEC in league games. John Calipari’s squad has issues forcing turnovers.

The Wildcats figured out a way to create takeaways against Vanderbilt, and it had a direct impact on the win.

Vanderbilt shot 47.2 percent from two and 43.8 percent from three in addition to getting 15 points from the free throw line. Jerry Stackhouse’s offense gave the Wildcats some issues as lead guard Scotty Pippen Jr. poured in a career-high 33 points on 23 shots. However, ball security was a major weakness.

The Wildcats forced 18 turnovers for a turnover rate of 25 percent and that directly led to 15 points for Kentucky. Despite giving up some high percentages, the Wildcats limited Vanderbilt to 0.97 points per possession due to the takeaways.

Davion Mintz comes up big

Kentucky’s starting backcourt is as good as anyone in the country. Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington, and Kellan Grady can be lethal on the offensive end when things are clicking.

Things weren’t clicking on Wednesday night.

The starting backcourt contributed just 22 points on 24 shots, and most of those came from four Grady threes. Wheeler was 0 of 8 from the floor, and Washington played just 19 minutes. Kentucky needed some juice from the bench.

Davion Mintz provided it.

The super senior tied his career-high with 21 points on 11 shots with four makes from downtown. Mintz grabbed three rebounds, dished out two assists, and recorded a team-high plus-15 in 34 minutes.

After a rough game against Kansas, the veteran bounced back strongly as Kentucky does not beat Vanderbilt without the shot-making from the veteran.

The results continue a theme as Mintz is now shooting 43.2 percent from three in SEC games.

Stats that stood out

• For the second game in a row, Keion Brooks Jr. delivered. The junior scored 20 points on 15 shots with four rebounds in 33 minutes. Brooks was more than effective from the mid-range and is giving Kentucky a counter to offenses trying to take away the perimeter scoring and Oscar Tshiebwe at the same time.
• Kentucky is the best rebounding team in college basketball, but the Wildcats got beat by a bad rebounding team on Saturday. The Commodores were plus-seven on the glass with 12 second chance points off seven offensive rebounds. Vandy did a great job limiting offensive rebounds by putting a body on Tshiebwe.
• Speaking of Tshiebwe, the junior did not have a great night but still produced. The West Virginia transfer finished with 11 points, 17 rebounds, four steals, and three assists in 35 minutes when things weren not going well. The big man brings it every night.