Kentucky Faces Another Road Challenge, at Vanderbilt
During the John Calipari era of Kentucky basketball, where the Cats have a primarily new team every season, there comes a point in the campaign where the Cats must learn about one of college basketball’s most notable home court advantages – the one Vanderbilt has at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville.
The setup in Memorial Gym is unique for various reasons. The most obvious one is that the benches sit in the end zones rather than on the sidelines, as they are at almost every other arena in the country.
For a Kentucky team that has lost its only two road games this season, this appears to be yet another challenge away from home. Assistant coach Jai Lucas said that the team has already been prepared for what they will face on Tuesday.
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| Kentucky at Vanderbilt | ||
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Wed., Jan. 11 – 7:00 p.m. ET |
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | Stats | VU |
| 12-3 | Record | 9-5 |
| 2-1 | Conference Record | 1-1 |
| 82.9 | PPG | 70.3 |
| 61.9 | Opp PPG | 62.4 |
| .494 | FG% | .407 |
| .389 | Opp FG% | .407 |
| 43.5 | RPG | 36.1 |
| .339 | 3PT FG% | .307 |
| .292 | Opp 3PT FG% | .304 |
| 17.5 | APG | 11.0 |
| 7.0 | SPG | 7.9 |
| 5.1 | BPG | 2.9 |
“(It’s) different because I think Keion (Brooks and Kellan Grady) may be the only ones who have played there when the benches have been normal,” Lucas said. “Last year, when we played there with Covid, we were still on the sideline. It’s a big difference and coach (John Calipari) has already talked to them about it. So, it’s something that we have to explain to them. I remember my first time playing there. It’s weird. It’s completely different. We just have to make sure we have a good line of communication in getting them to understand how they get it relayed to the team.”
The tight window between games makes the unique setup just that much more difficult to face.
“Just that it’s a different element that they’ve never had to deal with before,” Lucas said. “It’s something we have to get accustomed to, which is hard with a short turnaround. Just getting their minds set on the different points of reference you have to deal with now.”
Kellan Grady played at Vanderbilt while he was at Davidson. His experience there could be pivotal on Tuesday.
“I’ve played at Vanderbilt, I played there my junior year so I got a taste of that,” Grady said. “It’s definitely a little bit different than the typical arena we play in. But at the end of the day, the game will be decided between the lines.”
No matter the opponent, Grady knows that winning on the road in the Southeastern Conference this season is going to be tough.
“Home court advantage is huge in the SEC,” Grady said. “So, it would be great for us to, no matter who the opponent is, into any opposing arena and get a win.”
For the Cats to win on the road, Lucas thinks the formula is fairly simple.
“Execute down the stretch, offensively and defensively,” Lucas said. “That was kind of the same theme in both the Notre Dame and LSU games. You get to a certain point in the game around the six, five minute mark where you really have to be on your P’s and Q’s on both ends of the court. I think that’s one thing that we know. That’s something we’ve really worked on, so we feel pretty confident with our strategies. Now, we just have to go out and execute.”
Execution becomes a little more difficult at Vanderbilt but the Cats hope to be prepared for the challenge.
Washington’s Historic Day Leads UK Past Georgia
Kentucky teammates and coaches told TyTy Washington Jr. a milestone was within reach, but the reality of breaking John Wall’s single-game school record for assists took some getting used to.
“I mean, John Wall, I watched him play, I watched a bunch of his highlights at Kentucky, I watched him in the NBA a lot,” the Wildcats freshman guard said of his All-Star predecessor after handing out 17 assists along with scoring 17 points in No. 16 Kentucky’s 92-77 victory over Georgia on Saturday night.
“For me to go out there and break the record, you know, is exciting because a lot of other great point guards came here as well. I could be the one who said, ‘You know, I went to Kentucky, I set the record.’ And hopefully it gets set for a minute and I hope nobody breaks it.”
Oscar Tshiebwe added a career-high 29 points and 17 rebounds as the Wildcats shot 63% after halftime to pull away from the Bulldogs.
Both teams looked to rebound from close losses, intensity reflected in a back-and-forth first half featuring 10 lead changes. Late baskets by Tshiebwe and Keion Brooks Jr. (14 points) helped the Wildcats (12-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) lead 40-37 at halftime before mounting several spurts, including a 13-4 run over four minutes that made it 73-56. They made 22 of 35 in the second half and finished 40 of 70 (57%).
Kario Oquendo had 22 points, Aaron Cook 17 and Noah Baumann 14 for the Bulldogs (5-10, 0-2), who dropped their fourth consecutive game. Tshiebwe bounced back from nine points at No. 21 LSU to have his 11th double-double by the break before topping his previous scoring high of 25 points. The junior forward seemed headed for a 20-20 outing before settling for helping Kentucky win the boards 31-25. He finished 13 of 21 from the field.
The postgame spotlight, though, was focused on Washington.
Handling point guard duties for Kentucky in place of injured Sahvir Wheeler, Washington made 8 of 13 from the field and broke Wall’s single-game assists mark set against Hartford on Dec. 29, 2009 with 25 seconds remaining.
Davion Mintz made 5 of 7 3-pointers and 7 of 10 shots overall to finish with 19 points off the bench.
Washington’s achievement is all the more impressive considering cramps limited him in the second half of Kentucky’s 65-60 loss at No. 21 LSU on Tuesday night. Not to mention, somewhat ironic Wheeler has thrived as the facilitator.
But with Wheeler sidelined with a neck injury sustained against LSU after running into a hard but legal screen early on, Washington was suddenly thrust into ballhandling duties against Georgia. He simply tapped into another responsibility of playing guard for 36:50 and contributed five rebounds.
“Yeah, I was upset he had two turnovers,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said, jokingly. “He’s a playmaker and guard. Whether he’s bringing it up, or whether he’s away from the ball, he’s still a playmaking guard who can shoot. Was that a quiet 17 (points) he had?”
Georgia coach Tom Crean added, “I hope they weren’t surprised that we played well in the first half. I wasn’t and we had to prepare for this game with two different game plans. We had to prepare (if) Sahvir (Wheeler) was going to play and we back him up at the free throw line, and we had to prepare as if they have three shooters on the court.
“We ended up having to guard their guards and there were very few places where you could help from.”
All 12 of Kentucky’s wins this season have been by double figures
• This was Kentucky’s fourth 90-point game of the season. It is the first time UK has scored at least 90 points four times in one season since 2017-18
• UK shot 57.1% (40 of 70), the team’s seventh game making at least half of its shots this season. The Wildcats are 7-0 in those games
• Kentucky led by as many as 22 points. The Wildcats are 298-12 under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points during the game
• UK had 23 assists, the sixth game this season with at least 20 dimes. The Wildcats are 8-0 this season when accumulating at least 16
• Washington is the first Wildcat with a double-double of the points-assists and points-rebounds variety in the same season since Ashton Hagans in 2019-20
• Tshiebwe is the first player with at least 29 points and at least 17 rebounds in a game since Jamal Mashburn totaled 38 points and 19 boards vs. Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 8, 1992
• Tshiebwe’s 29 points are the most by a Wildcat since Immanuel Quickley scored 30 at Texas A&M on Feb. 25, 2020
• It was Mintz’s third straight game in double figures, and his five 3-point field goals are a season high
