Vanderbilt spoils Kentucky's Senior Night with 68-66 win at Rupp Arena

The vibes were at a high in the leadup to tipoff, but the Big Blue Nation left Rupp Arena wishing they could go back to the beginning of the night.

On Kentucky’s Senior Night, with the program honoring six seniors, the Wildcats were beaten in the closing seconds by the Vanderbilt Commodores, falling 68-66 as Jordan Wright hit a fadeaway jumper from the free-throw line to give Vandy the lead late. Despite losing Cason Wallace early in the second half to injury, the Wildcats overcame an 11-point deficit to nearly squeeze out the win, but simply missed too many shots throughout the game.

Kentucky shot just 32 percent from the field and an even worse 16 percent (3-16) from beyond the arc. The ‘Cats managed to make 25 free throws on the night but also missed 10 of them — seven coming after halftime. Vanderbilt received 23 points from Wright and 21 more from Tyrin Lawrence. Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but his contested triple fell well short. He finished with 14 points on 4-17 shooting.

In what was likely his final game as a Wildcat, Oscar Tshiebwe contributed a monstrous 21 points and 20 rebounds, playing every minute of the second half. Outside of Reeves and Tshiebwe, no other Kentucky player scored more than eight points.

After an emotional Senior Night ceremony, there was still a basketball game to be played. Four quick points from Tshiebwe would get the momentum rolling as Kentucky took an early 9-6 lead. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, bad news would strike as seven-foot center Liam Robbins, who had been playing at an extremely high level over his last seven games, appeared to suffer a lower leg injury with 16:09 left in the first half. He would not return.

With Vanderbilt now down its star player, the Commodores didn’t seem rattled. A three-pointer from Wright knotted the score at 11 apiece as both sides would trade baskets over the next several minutes. Kentucky was eventually able to stretch its lead out to as many as five on multiple occasions, but could never bust the door wide open. The ‘Dores would take a 31-30 lead with under a minute to go in the opening half and then drilled a buzzer-beating triple to make it 34-30 at the break.

Kentucky had every opportunity to take a double-digit lead but shot just 32 percent overall from the field in the first half. Vanderbilt got into early foul trouble, which helped the ‘Cats shoot 7-10 from the free-throw line in the first 20 minutes. However, a 1-9 clip from beyond the arc for UK did them no favors.

Out of the break, Vanderbilt struck first, ballooning its lead to as many as 11 at the onset of the second half. The momentum shifted from bad to worse for Kentucky as Wallace rolled his ankle and was forced to the locker room, ending his night. But the ‘Cats found ways to respond, trimming the Vandy lead down to as little as two with roughly 12 minutes left in the game.

A made three-pointer from Reeves, his first of the night, would cut the Vanderbilt lead down to just one, 57-56, as Kentucky began to live at the charity stripe. Despite the ‘Cats going over three minutes without a field goal down the stretch, free throws kept them in it. With under four minutes on the clock, UK trailed 64-61. Tshiebwe would finally end the scoring drought with a dunk that made it a one-point ball game. Reeves would tie the game on the next possession with a free throw.

Tshiebwe would finally give Kentucky the lead off a layup in the paint, but Vanderbilt responded with back-to-back clutch buckets, the second coming with just 2.6 seconds left to give the ‘Dores a 68-66 advantage. Reeves’ shot at the buzzer came up short as Vandy walked out of Rupp Arena as the ultimate spoiler.