Photo of UK Athletics
Kentucky struggled to get the dead shot, though it was able to get out of Memorial Gymnasium with an 82-78 victory over Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats led up to 17 in the first half after an explosive start from BJ Boston. The freshman guard had eight starting points when the United Kingdom opened the game with a 10-0 run. Despite the initial success, the inevitable scoring drought arose once again, allowing Vandy to get back into the game.
After 10 minutes, the United Kingdom went five minutes without scoring. The cats hit a few late cubes to get a pillow that wouldn’t last. Vanderbilt opened the second half with a 11-2 run to get a point. Dylan Disu, the best player on the court on Wednesday night who led all scorers with 29 points and 16 rebounds, tied the game at 13:54.
After the brightest star in Kentucky’s first 25 minutes, Isaiah Jackson, was sidelined by serious problems, two unlikely heroes appeared for Kentucky: Olivier Sarr and Jacob Toppin.
Previously goalless, Sarr had a six-point streak in just over two minutes to give the UK a bit of a breather. Then Toppin came into the game and did a little bit of everything for the Cats, knocking down three, shooting from mid-range and finishing “and ones.” Toppin finished the night with 16 points, while Sarr added 10 points and four blocked shots. Jackson was on a rebound from a second double double in a row, despite not scoring in the second half. The Wildcats won the game by the charity, making 24-for-25 free throws.
Vanderbilt had one final race left in the tank. Despite another Davion Mintz afternoon, the Commodores managed to reduce the deficit to one thanks to Disu’s heroics. Keion Brooks put an opponent on a sign, though a terrible charge call cleared the dagger, which would have been the work of the year. It was such a disgusting lock / load call, it would make you never want to watch college basketball again.
As infuriating as the final two minutes were, Kentucky escaped Vanderbilt with a major victory. Wildcats have a streak of wins when they need it most, just before the SEC tournament.