Potential Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt rematch will be in familiar spot

After trading wins on each other’s home floor in the regular season, Kentucky and Vanderbilt could be meeting for the third time this season this week in Nashville. This has happened before.

With a home win against Mississippi State on Senior Day, Jerry Stackhouse’s fourth team on the West End finished the season with 11 SEC wins to earn the No. 6 seed at the SEC Tournament. This is Vandy’s highest finish since 2016.

If the Commodores can get past Georgia/LSU on Thursday night in Nashville, they will find themselves in the same quarterfinal matchup as last year.

As the No. 11 seed in the 2022 SEC Tournament, Vanderbilt opened up on Wednesday night with a blowout win over Georgia and then upset Alabama on Thursday. That setup a third meeting with Kentucky. The Wildcats improved to 3-0 against Vandy with a 77-71 win but it was a struggle.

Jordan Wright scored 27 points on 12 field goal attempts as the Dores led by seven at one point in the second half despite star guard Scotty Pippen Jr. shooting just 2 of 17 from the field. A big performance from TyTy Washington (25 points on 17 shots) would get Kentucky over the hump in the final victory of the season for the Cats.

Kentucky will be looking to get another win over Vandy in the SEC Tournament. Calipari is 1-2 against the Dores in the postseason with losses in 2012 and 2013.

Just a few days ago, Wright scored 23 points on 12 field goal attempts including the game-winning mid-range jumper to give Vanderbilt its first win in Rupp Arena since 2007. Kentucky could be looking to avenge that loss in Nashville.

For the second season in a row, the Friday night round at the SEC Tournament can end with Kentucky and Vanderbilt locking horns. This time UK will be hoping a win leads to a good March run.