KSR's five best things from Kentucky's 21-point win over Vanderbilt

It didn’t matter if it was by one point or a hundred, Kentucky just needed more than Vanderbilt at the end of this one. With the Wildcats without their second- and third-leading scorers and nine scholarship players to work with, this portion of the schedule is about finding the advantages where you can get them and doing whatever it takes to win the games you can win.

This one was the second-easiest matchup left on the schedule as a Quad 2, behind only LSU’s trip to Lexington as a Quad 3. With UK fighting to avoid a Wednesday start in the SEC Tournament, you just had to find a way in the rematch against the Commodores.

Not only did they find a way, the Wildcats ran away with it, earning the 21-point victory with a final score of 82-61.

How did Kentucky get back in the win column to move to 18-8 overall and 7-6 in the SEC? KSR has the takeaways from Rupp Arena.

Don’t take Otega Oweh’s consistency for granted

Tega-Tron wakes up in double figures, the junior guard once again hitting the 10-point mark for a 26th consecutive game out of 26 total for the Wildcats. He’s the only player in the SEC with a perfect double-digit streak and one of just 10 players at the Division I level.

Malik Monk held that streak for 30 straight outings back in 2016-17 while only five other Wildcats have hit the double-digit mark in every game of a season: Rex Chapman (1987-88), Kenny Walker (1984-86), Kevin Grevey (1974-75), Dan Issel (1968-70) and Vernon Hatton (1957-58).

Point being, what Oweh is doing isn’t easy — no matter how easy he makes it look. This time around, he went for 20 points on 7-10 shooting and 5-5 at the line while adding seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 31 minutes. He set the tone with 11 first-half points before adding nine more after intermission, as if the guy needed to be any more consistent for this team.

Amari Williams is playing like an All-SEC big

If Johni Broome didn’t exist, it’d be fair to say Williams is playing like the best big in the SEC — but top two is still pretty impressive. He’s been a wrecking ball in the frontcourt, scoring in double figures in nine of 13 games with double-digit rebounds in seven league matchups. Tonight, he finished with 17 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting and 5-5 at the line while adding six rebounds, four blocks and one assist in 27 minutes.

He’s the first Kentucky player in 25 seasons to go perfect from the field and perfect at the line. Only eight players have accomplished the feat in program history with Williams sitting behind only Rodney Dent (7-7) in 1993. Maybe the coolest (and weirdest) stat of the night? He’s the first Division I or NBA player to have a game with 15-plus points, four-plus blocks, 100 percent shooting overall, 100 percent at the line and zero fouls since Pau Gasol did it for the Los Angeles Lakers in November of 2010.

When Williams wants to take a game over, there really is no stopping him. At 7-foot, 262 pounds with skill and athleticism, he’s got tools very few have at any level. With a massive size advantage in the post against an undersized Vanderbilt team, the fifth-year senior made the most of it.

Collin Chandler has his best game as a Wildcat

Coming off a mission trip that kept him away from competitive basketball for two years, it was understood going in the process with Chandler would be a long one. He’s shown flashes — that Blue-White Scrimmage was a thing of beauty — but there weren’t many signs he could be a consistent contributor this season at least, no matter how brilliant his future looks in blue and white.

He had a miniature breakthrough on the defensive end at Tennessee, but had his best all-around performance by a mile in the Vanderbilt rematch. Chandler finished career highs in points (7), rebounds (6) and steals (2) in 15 minutes, knocking down his first 3-pointer of the day and rolling from there.

Pope compared him to a bamboo tree, patiently growing his roots over time until he was ready to explode.

“He’s a really special talent, we know where he’s going to end up. We just don’t know how the zig-zag path is going to get you there, right?” he said. “… He could be a guy that you watch down the stretch, once we get to tournament play, where he’s a difference-maker.”

Andrew Carr looked like himself again

All he needed was to re-join the starting lineup, maybe? Whatever it was, it worked for Carr, finishing with 11 points on 5-8 shooting — by far his best effort in a month and the most he’s scored since going for 13 in the Texas A&M win on Jan. 14. He added two rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 21 minutes.

Pope said before the game Carr had a strong week of practice, going back-to-back for the first time in a month. That led to the fifth-year senior playing like the guy the Kentucky coach drove to Bowling Green to pick up and bring back to Lexington himself as a massive piece to this team’s puzzle.

“I thought he was brilliant,” Pope said. “He really did look like his old physical attacking self. … He felt much better jumping back into the starting lineup. I thought he was really, really good tonight.”

Closing the rebounding and defensive gap

Vanderbilt was dominating on the glass in the first half, going into the break with an 18-12 advantage while pulling down eight offensive boards. It led to just six second-chance points, but the Commodores had a 20-12 lead in the paint as they set the tone in the frontcourt, Devin McGlockton with 11 and 6 at intermission himself. Kentucky was shooting well with 50/33/100 splits, but it only translated to a one-point lead.

The Wildcats would hold the competition to just three second-half offensive rebounds overall while closing things out with an 18-12 advantage themselves after the break. That led to just three second-chance points as Kentucky tied the overall battle 30-30 on the glass.

The same can be said about the defensive effort overall, Vanderbilt opening the game shooting 48.6 percent from the field before Kentucky shut things down in the second half, allowing just 29.6 percent overall and 10.0 percent from deep. That’s how you turn a one-point halftime lead into a 21-point victory.