Vanderbilt ran into a 'buzzsaw' in Kentucky: "We didn't have it."

The Commodores are who they are. Vanderbilt ranks No. 322 in scoring offense and No. 233 in scoring defense, No. 343 in shooting percentage and No. 340 in 3-point efficiency. It’s why they’re now 6-16 on the year and No. 236 in the NET following a blowout home loss to Kentucky.

It didn’t help that the Cats were in need of a feel-good win coming off back-to-back losses and dropping three of four overall. Wrong time, wrong place for the Dores.

And to their credit, they took advantage of that opportunity, controlling the game from start to finish. That’s how you get the third-largest margin of victory ever against Vandy inside Memorial Gymnasium (32 points) and the third-most points scored in the venue (109).

“We ran into a really hot team, a desperate team that had lost two games in a row. They came in here and shot lights out. We were never able to catch up with them,” Jerry Stackhouse said after the loss. “I thought we played one of our better offensive halves in the first half and it still wasn’t enough. We had a chance to keep the game in the balance a little bit, missed some easy opportunities ourselves with some nice open looks, some opportunities around the rim.

“Even with the separation at half, I was like, ‘Man, just a few more layups and maybe hit one of those threes, it’d be a 10- or 12-point game and still within reach.'”

The Commodores had it within single digits through the second media timeout, but the Wildcats quickly pushed it 21 with 5:47 to go before it closed at 16 at the half. They kept it mostly even through the first 11 minutes of the second before Kentucky blew things open, finishing the game on a 28-12 run to win 109-77.

“Once they got that separation, they got a lot of confidence,” Stackhouse said. “Even the guys off the bench played with a lot of confidence. Hard to win the game when the other team gets more offensive rebounds than you get defensive rebounds. We didn’t have the physicality to compete against this team tonight. … The physicality we talked about coming into today, we didn’t have it.”

It was just one of those nights for Vanderbilt, a team that had finally built a sniff of momentum with a 68-61 win over Missouri just three days before. Kentucky ripped it right back away, pushing the Dores to 1-8 in SEC play.

“This is one of those where you just forget about it,” Stackhouse said, crumpling up the box score. “We got our first win, then ran into a buzzsaw today. … That’s a team that is more talented than we are. We have to do a lot of things right to beat that team. We didn’t do it.”

Say what you want about the Cats’ defense, but when the offense gets rolling, it’s unstoppable. Unfortunately, Vandy saw it at its best.

“They really brought it to us. (Rob) Dillingham, (Reed) Sheppard, those guys making shots. (Antonio) Reeves, I thought he was really good. Every time he raised up, it felt like it was going in. That’s tough.

“It’s well-documented, this is one of the best offensive teams in the country.”