Kentucky’s Best Performances in Memorial Gym: From Jordan Burks to Cliff Hagan

Your University of Kentucky Wildcats play in Nashville on Saturday after a rare midseason week of rest. Kentucky will face Vanderbilt in the Wildcats’ 80th game against the Commodores at historic Memorial Gymnasium, where Kentucky is 52-27 all-time as the road team.

Several outstanding individual performances were behind those 52 road wins. If you’re talking about Kentucky‘s all-time heroes at Vandy, the conversation should start with Nazr Mohammed, whose buzzer-beater in 1998 is the only walk-off in Nashville.

However, this exercise will reverse-chronologically list Kentucky’s Memorial Gym standouts, beginning with… Jordan Burks. Yes, Jordan Burks. Surely you haven’t forgotten Jordan Burks already.

Jordan Burks (2024)

Antonio Reeves was Kentucky’s leading scorer in last season’s 32-point win in Nashville, as he was in 15 of Kentucky’s 33 games in 2023-24. So, Reeves’ performance wasn’t nearly as surprising or meaningful as Jordan Burks‘ 13 points and five rebounds off the bench, a couple of career highs for the freshman who transferred to Georgetown.

Burks hit all six of his shot attempts on his career night at Vanderbilt last February. He didn’t hit another shot in the 15 other SEC games or for the rest of his time at Kentucky. Still, his impact was felt off the bench in Nashville.

Kentucky 109, Vanderbilt 77

Oscar Tshiebwe (2022)

Oscar Tshiebwe‘s 30 points at Vanderbilt in 2022 set a new career-high in scoring for Tshiebwe. And because he is Oscar, he also had 13 rebounds for his 12th double-double in 16 games. Led by Tshiebwe, the Wildcats never trailed in the win.

Tshiebwe was the first Wildcat with a 30/10 game since Patrick Patterson against Tennessee State in Rupp Arena in 2008.

Kentucky 78, Vanderbilt 66

Davion Mintz (2021)

Attendance was listed at 164 people to see Davion Mintz score 18 points, one shy of a season-high, at Vanderbilt in 2021. Mintz hit four 3-pointers against the Commodores, including the one that extended Kentucky’s lead to six with a minute and a half to go.

Kentucky 82, Vanderbilt 78

Tyrese Maxey (2020)

Tyrese Maxey was the high-scorer when Kentucky won in Memorial Gym in 2020. Now the star of the Philadelphia 76ers, Maxey scored 25 points to help lead the Wildcats out of a 14-point deficit in the first half.

Kentucky 78, Vanderbilt 64

PJ Washington (2019)

PJ Washington‘s 25 points and 12 rebounds led the 2018-19 Wildcats to a 35-point win over the Commodores in Nashville. Washington had his double-double by halftime with 18 and 10 at the break, Kentucky up by 30.

Kentucky 87, Vanderbilt 52

Tayshaun Prince (2001)

Tayshaun Prince scored 11 of his 27 at the free throw line, sinking all but one of his 12 trips to the line at Vanderbilt in 2001. Prince had 14 points with 5:20 to go in the game before scoring 13 of his game-high 27 points late in the Kentucky win. Prince also had a game-high nine rebounds as he and the Wildcats fought off Vandy’s late comeback attempt.

Kentucky 79, Vanderbilt 74

Desmond Allison (2000)

Desmond Allison tied Travis Ford’s Kentucky record of six 3-pointers at Vanderbilt in 2000. Allison’s 6-of-9 shooting from outside helped him match Jamaal Magloire with 23 points each in Kentucky’s overtime win over the Commodores in 2000. It was Allison’s best game in two seasons as a Wildcat.

Kentucky 81, Vanderbilt 73 (OT)

Nazr Mohammed (1998)

Jeff Sheppard‘s 20 points contributed to Vandy’s first home loss of the 1997-98 season. However, it was Nazr Mohammed who decided the final score with his two-handed lob with 0.1 seconds that hit the top of the backboard and dropped in for the game-winner. Was it even a shot? It doesn’t matter. It went in a few seconds after Vandy’s Drew Maddux tied the game with a desperation 3 at the other end. Sheppard passed the ball forward to Mohammed for the unlikely winner as time expired.

Kentucky 63, Vanderbilt 61

Ron Mercer (1997)

Ron Mercer‘s Nashville homecoming was part of a hot stretch in Mercer’s sophomore season when he scored 23 points in four of five games, including three consecutive 23-point games, ending in his hometown’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Kentucky 82, Vanderbilt 79

The Whole Team (1996)

Kentucky scored a record 120 points on Vandy in 1996, the national championship season. Tony Delk, another Tennessean, led the Wildcats with 22, but he wasn’t alone in lighting up the Commodores. Antoine Walker had 17, Walter McCarty 16, and another 15 each by Mark Pope and Mercer, then a freshman. Pope recently recalled chest-bumping Rick Pitino during the dunk-fest at Vandy as Kentucky moved to 19-1 that season.

Kentucky 120, Vanderbilt 81

Travis Ford (1994)

Travis Ford made seven of 11 from the field with five assists in Kentucky’s 1994 win in Nashville. Ford played even better the year before when he set a new high mark for 3s made versus Vandy (6), but it was his 22-point performance in ’94 that earned a win over the Commodores, only the second in five tries for his head coach, Rick Pitino.

Kentucky 77, Vanderbilt 69

Kenny Walker (1985)

If you thought Oscar Tshiebwe’s 30 and 15 game at Vandy was impressive, may I interest you in Kenny Walker‘s 31 and 15 game at Memorial Gym in 1985? Walker scored 31 points with 15 rebounds in Kentucky’s 68-62 win. He and Ed Davender (16) nearly matched Vanderbilt’s 62 points by themselves. Walker scored 25 in Nashville a year later.

Kentucky 68, Vanderbilt 62

Melvin Turpin (1984)

Melvin Turpin went 11 of 15 from the field in Kentucky’s 58-54 win at Vanderbilt in 1984. The 6-11 center scored 22 points, part of his All-American senior season at Kentucky.

Kentucky 58, Vanderbilt 54

Jim Master (1983)

Jim Master had the hot hand in 1983, scoring 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting in Memorial Gym. Master’s 12 made shots were a career-high, and he was three points shy of matching his career-best point total. Late in the game, Kentucky needed six free throws near the end of overtime to win the game and retake first place in the SEC with the victory.

Kentucky 82, Vanderbilt 77

Derrick Hord (1982)

It was Derrick Hord who shined in 1982, scoring 26 points on a career-high 12 field goals to lead Kentucky over C.M. Newton’s Commodores in 1982. Hord was named First Team All-SEC later that season, his junior year.

Kentucky 73, Vanderbilt 69

Kyle Macy (1978)

Kyle Macy enjoyed playing in Memorial Gymnasium. He played there three times, scoring 22, 24, and 22 points in those trips to the Music City. In 1978, Macy’s 28 points led the eventual national champs to a 78-68 win. He’d win there again in 1980 by scoring 22.

Kentucky 78, Vanderbilt 68

Tom Parker (1971)

Kentucky scored 119 points against Vanderbilt in 1971, the second to last trip to Nashville under Adolph Rupp. Junior Tom Parker, Kentucky’s All-SEC forward, led the way with 26 points and eight rebounds in the Kentucky win. The Wildcats went 49 of 91 from the field for the game.

Kentucky 119, Vanderbilt 90

Louie Dampier (1966)

Louie Dampier couldn’t be stopped in the 1966 Kentucky-Vanderbilt game in Nashville. Dampier outshined Pat Riley’s 28-point night with 42 points and nine rebounds. Dampier’s 42 points are a Kentucky record against Vanderbilt in Memorial Gymnasium. He hit 18 of 29 shots in the win.

Kentucky 105, Vanderbilt 90

Cotton Nash (1962)

Cotton Nash scored 31 points at Vanderbilt in 1962, needing only seven two-pointers to get there. Nash did most of his work at the line, where he sank 17 of 19 free throws at Memorial Gym in No. 3 Kentucky’s 77-68 win. Larry Pursiful added 19 points for the Wildcats. Nash would score another 27 on Vandy a year later.

Kentucky 77, Vanderbilt 68

Carroll Burchett (1960)

Carroll Burchett was a bucket in 1960, hitting a career-best 10 of 16 shots for a career-best 24 points. The freshman forward/center from Flat Gap, Kentucky, added 13 rebounds in Kentucky’s 76-69 win over Vandy.

Kentucky 76, Vanderbilt 59

Earl Adkins (1958)

Ashland, Kentucky’s own Earl Adkins gave Vanderbilt all it wanted in 1958, Adkins’ senior season. He set a career-high for shots made (9) in scoring a career-high 25 points against Vanderbilt. His seven free throws also were a career-best.

Kentucky 86, Vanderbilt 81

Frank Ramsey and Cliff Hagan (1954)

Finally, the first time Kentucky played in Memorial Gymnasium, an 85-63 win for the first-ranked Wildcats. Frank Ramsey (24) and Cliff Hagan (22) scored 46 of Kentucky’s points as UK moved to 13-0 in its undefeated 1953-54 season.

Kentucky 85, Vanderbilt 63

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Will a new Wildcat join this list in 2025?

We’ll find out when Kentucky and Vanderbilt tip off in Nashville.