Photo by UK Athletics
Kentucky struggled to land the kill shot, yet still was able to limp out of Memorial Gymnasium with an 82-78 win over Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats led by as much as 17 in the first half after an explosive start by B.J. Boston. The freshman guard had eight early points as UK opened the game on a 10-0 run. Despite the early success, the inevitable scoring drought arose once again, allowing Vandy to climb back into the game.
Starting at the 10-minute mark, UK went five minutes without scoring. The Cats hit a few late buckets to get some cushion that would not last. Vanderbilt opened the second half on an 11-2 run to get within one point. Dylan Disu, the best player on the court Wednesday night who led all scorers with 29 points and 16 rebounds, tied the game with 13:54 remaining.
After Kentucky’s brightest star of the first 25 minutes, Isaiah Jackson, was sidelined by foul trouble, two unlikely heroes emerged for Kentucky: Olivier Sarr and Jacob Toppin.
Previously scoreless, Sarr had a flurry of six points in just over two minutes to give UK some breathing room. Then Toppin entered the game and did a little bit of everything for the Cats, knocking down threes, making shots from midrange and finishing ‘and ones.’ Toppin finished the night with 16 points, while Sarr added 10 points and four blocked shots. Jackson was one rebound away from a second straight double-doubler, despite not scoring in the second half. The Wildcats won the game from the charity stripe, making 24-of-25 free throws.
Vanderbilt had one final run left in the tank. Despite another big-time late three by Davion Mintz, the Commodores were able to cut the deficit to one thanks to Disu’s heroics. Keion Brooks put an opponent on a poster, yet a terrible charge call erased the dagger the would have been the play of the year. It was a block/charge call so disgusting, it’d make you never want to watch college basketball again.
As infuriating as the final two minutes were to watch, Kentucky escaped Vanderbilt with an important win. The Wildcats are on a winning streak when they need it most, right before the SEC Tournament.
