Lexington, Ky – February 18, 2025 – Tim Letcher
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.
