Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt
The Southeastern Conference basketball schedule has each team playing 12 schools once and three schools twice. Kentucky has already faced Tennessee twice, and on Wednesday night, the Cats will face Vanderbilt for a second time (Rupp Arena, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
On Jan. 25 in Nashville, UK got 21 points from Otega Oweh, but 17 Kentucky turnovers led to 14 Vanderbilt points in a 74-69 win for the Commodores. UK guard Travis Perry knows that Wednesday is a chance for his team to get a shot at redemption.
“Definitely. In the SEC, you get three teams you get to play twice,” Perry said. “This is a great opportunity for us to get to run it back, play against them again. Trying to go out there and win a basketball game.”
One of the main focuses for Wednesday’s game will be ball security. Perry and the Cats know that they can’t turn the ball over nearly as often as they did against the Commodores the first time around.
“Protect the ball is something that’s on our board every day that we want to do at a high level, having as few turnovers as possible,” Perry said. “I think just being more aggressive, being aggressive and making plays for teammates. We had a couple of stints in that game where we got out of what we want to do, and that leads to turnovers. So just trying to stay in our game plan and stick to that.”
Perry knows what Vandy does well on the court.
“They’re very physical, one through five, they’re very aggressive,” Perry said. “I think our execution is going to be the same, just go out there and focus on us, do what we want to do.”
Kentucky will likely be without Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson on Wednesday night. How do the Cats handle playing different positions due to injury?
“Our coaches do a great job of tailoring each game, the game plan, based on what lineups we have out there,” Perry said. “I think it’s been really good for our team as a whole, we’ve got guys running every position. That makes it a lot easier, rather than just knowing your particular spot.”
As for his particular game, Perry brought up aggression, something that seems to be a theme for the Cats for Wednesday’s game.
“I’m really focused on trying to be more physical at the point guard position,” Perry said. “Being more aggressive, picking my spots when to be aggressive, when to make plays for myself, make plays for my teammates. Then also, trying to be more aggressive on defense, take some risks every now and then.”
Kentucky will look to split the regular season series with Vanderbilt on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. A more aggressive approach, despite the Cats missing a couple of key players, could be the key.
Kentucky Clipped at Texas on Saturday
Amari Williams had his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but No. 15 Kentucky lost at Texas, 82-78 on Saturday night in Austin.
Otega Oweh continued his streak of double-digit scoring efforts with 20 points. Oweh has scored in double figures in all 25 games this season, the first Kentucky player to score in double-digits in 25 consecutive games since Malik Monk during the 2016-17 season.
UK played without two starters as Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson missed the game due to injury.
The Wildcats began the game hot, sprinting out to a 9-2 lead in the early stages. Texas fought back and the first half would feature five ties and two lead changes. The Cats scored the last four points of the half to take a 41-37 lead to the locker room.
Kentucky matched its largest lead of the game early in the second half at 48-41, before a 13-3 run by the Longhorns put Texas back ahead, 54-51.
With the Wildcats leading 69-64 with 3:51 to play, UT surged with a 16-3 spurt to take control of the contest. Oweh hit a three at the buzzer to make the final, 82-78 for the Longhorns.
Some additional notes from the game:
• Kentucky limited Texas to 21.7 percent from beyond the arc. UK is 11-1 this season when the opponent makes less than 25 percent from deep. The Cats are holding opponents to 19 percent from 3-point range over the last three games
• Amari WIlliams now has six double-doubles in his last 10 games
• Williams’ 18-12-3 line is the eighth time in the last ten seasons a Wildcat has totaled at least 18 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in a game
• Ansley Almonor had 11 points, his 10th game of the season in double-figures
• Travis Perry made his first collegiate start and finished with six points and a career-high three assits
• With Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa out, UK has played only seven games this season at full strength.
It Really Just Means More in 2024-25
• SEC teams won 88.8% (183-23) of their games this season prior to the start of conference play. That tops the nine-team ACC in 2003-04 which had an 88.2% winning percentage (75-10) in games before New Year’s Day
• SEC teams are 21-7 against nonconference teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including a 6-2 mark against teams ranked inside of the top 10. The SEC’s 21 nonconference wins against the AP 25 are eight more than any other league has ever had in a single season(per former ESPN researcher Jared Berson)
• The Feb. 17, 2025 AP Top 25, has a nation-leading nine SEC teams ranked
– On Dec. 9, five SEC teams were ranked inside the top 10 in the AP poll for the first time in league history
-On. Jan. 6, six SEC teams were ranked inside of the top 10, topping its own record previously set earlier in the season
-On Feb. 10, the SEC had four of the top five ranked teams for the first time in history
• The SEC’s 10 teams ranked in the Dec. 23, 30 and Jan. 27 polls are the most by a conference since the AP began compiling a weekly poll during the 1948-49 season
• Fourteen of the 16 teams have been ranked for at least one week in the AP poll, breaking a new league record
• The SEC dominated this year’s SEC-ACC Challenge, going 14-2 against the Atlantic Coast Conference and winning 11 of those games by double digits and five by 20-plus points
• Through games on Feb. 15, the SEC has four teams in the top 10 of the NET, eight teams in the top 25, 13 in the top 50 and all 16 teams inside the top 100
• The SEC is the highest rated conference in the country by KenPom, which ranks conferences by net rating of team expected to go .500 in conference play
• Per ESPN’s BPI which calculates a team’s strength of schedule, the 16 teams with the toughest remaining schedules entering play on Jan. 4 are all from the SEC. Kentucky is considered to have the sixth toughest remaining schedule at the start of league play
