By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kentucky’s zone defense wasn’t working against Vanderbilt using the zone. So coach Tubby Smith switched his Wildcats to man-to-man Tuesday night, and they responded with their best defensive performance of the season.
Gerald Fitch scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as No. 16 Kentucky rallied from a 14-point deficit and beat Vanderbilt 74-52 for its sixth straight victory.
“We were upset with how we played at halftime,” Wildcats guard Keith Bogans said. “We wanted to come out with more intensity on defense.”
They did.
The Wildcats (12-3, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed 36-28 at halftime, but they looked like a different team in the second half as they turned up the defensive pressure and got 12 of their 15 steals. They limited Vandy to just four field goals – one a 3-pointer – on 17 shots in the second half.
“After playing that way, nothing less will be acceptable,” Bogans said. “We’ve got something to build on.”
Vanderbilt, fresh off upsetting then-No. 4 Alabama, was trying to beat a Top 25 opponent for the second time in as many games. The Commodores (8-6, 1-2) looked ready to pull off that feat for the first time since January 2000 as they went 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half.
“We came out a little flat, but that had a lot to do with Vanderbilt coming off a big win,” Smith said. “Emotion can be high. They were pretty intense. Once we got our composure, all that emotion can be draining.”
Kentucky outscored Vanderbilt 28-7 over the first 12 minutes of the second half and had their fans outshouting the sellout crowd. Chuck Hayes gave the Wildcats their first lead since the opening basket with a steal and a layup that made it 41-40 with 14:36 to go.
The Commodores led one last time, 42-41 on a dunk by Matt Freije off a pass from Scott Hundley at 13:37. Kentucky responded with a 17-3 run that was capped by a layup by Bogans that made it 62-47.
Bogans finished with 16 points for Kentucky, Marquis Estill had 15 and Hayes 11.
Freije, who had 15 points for Vanderbilt, said Kentucky’s defense was stifling. Cliff Hawkins limited Vandy point guard Russell Lakey to two points and harassed him into six of Vandy’s 22 turnovers.
“It seemed like we had trouble completing a single pass,” Freije said. “You can’t play basketball 45 feet from the basket.”
Reserve freshman Mario Moore led Vanderbilt with 17 points.
The Commodores looked like they would pick up where they left off Saturday night against Alabama as they scored eight of the game’s first 12 points.
The Wildcats turned the ball over four times in their first five possessions. The closest they got in the first half was 8-7 on a 3-pointer by Bogans after Vandy coach Kevin Stallings subbed for all five of his starters coming out of a timeout.
Then Moore started the Commodores on a 17-4 run by hitting three of five straight 3s, and Corey Smith’s basket capped the spurt at 25-11 with 9:48 to go.
Stallings said his team shot itself out of Kentucky’s zone and into the pressure-filled man-to-man defense.
“They hit us with a big punch, and we didn’t respond to that. We are disappointed we didn’t have an answer for their pressure and their phsyicality,” he said.
