UK Athletics photo
Kentucky struggled to hit the deadly shot, but was still able to hobble from the Memorial Gymnasium with an 82-78 victory over Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats led by 17 in the first half, after an explosive start by BJ Boston. The guard freshman added eight starting points when the UK opened the game 10-0. Despite initial success, the inevitable scoring drought reappeared, allowing Vandy to return to the game.
Starting at the 10-minute mark, the UK went five minutes without a goal. The Cats hit some late buckets to get some protection that wouldn’t last. Vanderbilt opened the second half with an 11-2 run to get to a point. Dylan Disu, the best player on the court on Wednesday night who led all the top scorers with 29 points and 16 rebounds, tied the game with 13:54 remaining.
After Kentucky’s brightest star in the first 25 minutes, Isaiah Jackson, was sidelined because of a problem, two unlikely heroes emerged for Kentucky: Olivier Sarr and Jacob Toppin.
Before goalless, Sarr had a flurry of six points in just over two minutes to give the UK some breathing space. So Toppin got into the game and did a little bit for the Cats, knocking down three, giving medium kicks and finishing ‘and ones’. Toppin ended the night with 16 points, while Sarr added 10 and four blocks. Jackson was a rebound from a second consecutive double doubler, despite not having scored in the second half. The Wildcats won the game on the charity track, hitting 24 out of 25 free throws.
Vanderbilt had one last race left in the tank. Despite another big delay of three from Davion Mintz, the Commodores managed to reduce the deficit to one thanks to Disu’s heroism. Keion Brooks put an opponent on a poster, but a terrible charge erased the dagger that would have been the play of the year. It was a blocking / charging call so disgusting that it would 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 victory. Wildcats are on a winning streak when they need it most, right before the SEC tournament.