NASHVILLE, TN (LEX 18) — The Wildcats traveled to Nashville to take on SEC foe, Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon and left with a 74-69 loss.
The Wildcats were without graduate forward Andrew Carr. He was ruled out according to the SEC Availability Report pregame.
Andrew Carr and Kerr Kriisa are OUT today for Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt pic.twitter.com/XhEa62ej2O
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) January 25, 2025
In the first six minutes, shooting started well for both teams. Kentucky shot 50% from the field, and Vandy shot 60%. Both teams crashed the boards, trying to limit opportunities for second-chance points.
The Commodores won the tip but weren’t successful in their first possession. Amari Williams opened the match with a beautiful dunk to try and set UK’s tone. It then turned into a lot of back and forth.
TOO STRONG 💪💪💪💪
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 25, 2025
📺 - ESPN pic.twitter.com/cxQtfrya4s
Coach Mark Pope dove into his bench early on, and all three freshmen - Travis Perry, Trent Noah, and Collin Chandler got minutes. But the Harlan County native would come up big in his eight minutes, four rebounds, one steal, and two points in a momentum-setting moment with 5:24 left to bring the Cats within three points, 25-28.
But Vanderbilt would close out the half with a 13-2 run. Kentucky's offense went dry and five turnovers in the last five minutes did not help the situation.
Kentucky went into the locker room down 14 at the half. Vanderbilt 41, UK 27. The Cats shot 38% from the field, only hitting 4 from behind the arc, while the Commodores hit 7. Jaxson Robinson led the Cats with 6, all of his points from the 3-point line.
HALFTIME: Vanderbilt 41, Kentucky 27
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) January 25, 2025
It's a tale of turnovers for the Cats. UK has 10, Commodores 3. From three UK is 4/14. pic.twitter.com/UsQrkO49Tn
Out of the half, Lamont Butler scored his first points of the night, Ansley Almonor and Otega Oweh each followed with a 3-point play to get within three points of the ‘Dores, 41-38 with 17:38 left in the game.
Catch and shoot from @Robinsonjaxx 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 25, 2025
📺 - ESPN pic.twitter.com/hQtzS5dcq9
A Robinson three tied it up at 51 to keep the momentum in UK’s favor.
Kentucky would go on a 13-2 run, highlighted by Buter and Oweh's offensive attacks, and an authoritative block by Brandon Garrison.
.@lamont_butler1 is speed 💨
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 25, 2025
📺 - ESPN pic.twitter.com/0TdEKu2y63
The Cats and Commodores would bounce a slim lead back and forth until two turnovers by the Cats put the game in VU's hands. Despite a much better second half 17 turnovers were too costly for UK.
Oweh led blue with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and one steal. Almonor had 12, shooting 4/5 from behind the arc. As a team, Kentucky went 9/23 from three.
Kentucky stays on the road, taking on the AP Top 10 Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. BBN Tonight's Maggie Davis and Keith Farmer will have a preview for you at a special time, 6:30 p.m. live from Knoxville!
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