LEXINGTON – February 2, 2022 – JOHN TURNER, III
The Kentucky Wildcats hosted the Vanderbilt Commodores Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats came into the game (17-4) on the season, coming off a big 80-62 win at Kansas this past weekend, moving them to #5 in the new AP Poll. The Commodores came into the game (11-9) on the season, coming an 88-75 win against Georgia this past Saturday. All five of the Kentucky Wildcat starters are averaging double-digits in scoring on the season. TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler are leading the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio with TyTy at 2.67 and Sahvir at 2.28.
Kellan Grady hit his second three-point field goal of the game with 14:11 remaining in the first half, to give the Wildcats a 9-6 lead. Davion Mintz converted on a three-point field goal while drawing contact and made the free-throw for the four-point play to give the Wildcats a 15-9 lead with 13:22 remaining in the first twenty minutes of play. Kellan Grady hit another three-point field goal with 9:44 left in the first half to tie the game at 18-18. Davion Mintz scored back-to-back possessions, hitting a mid-range jumper and a three-point field goal to give the Cats a 32-20 lead with 3:39 left in the half.
Kentucky went into halftime with a 41-31 lead. The Wildcats were led in scoring by Kellan Grady with twelve points, Davion Mintz with eleven points, and Keion Brooks with seven points. The Wildcats were led in rebounding by Oscar Tshiebwe, grabbing nine rebounds in the first twenty minutes of play. Scotty Pippen Jr. led all scorers at the half with seventeen points for Vanderbilt. Both teams ended up with fourteen rebounds in the first half.
Davion Mintz hit a three-point field goal with 15:36 remaining in the game to give the Cats a 47-43 lead. Sahvir Wheeler got out in transition and attempted a fast break lay up that was no good, but Keion Brooks ran the floor to get the offensive put back to give the Cats a 49-43 lead with 14:08 left in the game, which ended up with Vanderbilt getting a technical foul that really got the BBN fanbase going with 14:08 left to play. Sahvir Wheeler penetrated to the basket and had a good look, but kicked out to Davion Mintz who converted a three-point field goal with 7:23 left in the game to give the Wildcats a 62-53 lead. Keion Brooks hit a mid-range jumper with 3:58 left to play to give the Cats a 69-57 lead.
The Wildcats improve to (18-4) on the season and (7-2) in SEC play with the 77-70 win. The Wildcats were led in scoring by Davion Mintz with twenty-one points, Keion Brooks with twenty points, Kellan Grady with twenty points, and Oscar Tshiebwe with eleven points. The Wildcats were led in rebounding by Oscar Tshiebwe grabbing seventeen rebounds on the night. The Wildcats look to keep the momentum going this Saturday as they travel to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide.
