It's time to let the engraver know he can etch in Kentucky's name on the SEC's regular-season championship trophy.
The
Wildcats gave themselves a nice cushion in their quest for a 45th
league title by moving to 11-0 in the conference standings with their
69-63 victory over Vanderbilt.
Including the Commodores, the four
teams closest to the Wildcats when the day began on Feb. 11 all lost,
leaving second-place Florida at 7-3, Mississippi State and Vandy tied at
6-4, and Alabama at 5-5 tied with three others who already had five
conference losses.
Though the Wildcats eventually did get the
challenge that coach John Calipari said they needed, they dominated the
early going when they jumped out to a 36-23 halftime lead.
But
the Commodores came back in the second half and at one point held a
four-point lead at 55-51 with under nine minutes left before going cold.
The
Commodores made only three field goals after that and missed their
final nine shots, allowing the Wildcats to close the game out with an
18-8 run.
"We are good defensively, but it may have been them, too," Calipari said.
Kentucky,
which improved to 25-1 for the season, will have a week between games
before playing again. The Wildcats are host to Ole Miss next.
They
have road games against Mississippi State and Florida and home outings
against Vandy and Georgia left in the regular season.
NOTES, QUOTES
--With
the victory at Vanderbilt, Kentucky's 16-game winning streak included
six straight on the road. It was the second-longest winning streak under
coach John Calipari and just three wins short of the 19-0 start by the
2009-10 team.
The last Kentucky team to win six in a row on the
road in the SEC was the 2002-03 team that was 8-0 in the league away
from home.
--Freshman Marquis Teague had a big game with 13
points on a 6-of-12 shooting. He also handed out eight assists and
committed only one turnover in 37 minutes on the court.
"He did great," coach John Calipari said. "He broke down defensively twice, but kept playing."
--Once
again, freshman F Anthony Davis threatened a triple-double by adding
eight rebounds and seven blocked shots to his 14 points against Vandy.
He had 127 blocks for the season at that point, seventh-best in SEC
history.
"There's more physical guys, but he's just very long,"
Vandy C Festus Ezeli said of the 6-10 Davis. "In the first half I think
he got the better of me.
"I was definitely thinking about his
shot-blocking abilities, so I was trying to maneuver a little bit and I
wasn't really getting my shots. He's good at what he does."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We
handled this game like we have others and will handle future games the
same way. On our board, I tell the team to love the road, love this,
relish this." -- Coach John Calipari, on handling the game atmosphere at
Vandy.
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
--vs. Ole Miss, Feb. 18
The
Rebels have veterans up front in Terrance Henry, Murphy Holloway, and
Reginald Buckner. But how their guards handle playing against the
Wildcats in Rupp Arena will be critical to their chances to pull off the
upset.
FUTURES MARKET
Kentucky
will have a week between games to prepare for Ole Miss, but the layoff
may not exactly be a welcome one. The last time the Wildcats had such a
break in the schedule was after their win over North Carolina, and they
lost to Indiana -- their only setback of the season -- in their next
game. "It is late in the season so they don't need two days off," coach
John Calipari said of his players.
PLAYER NOTES
--Sophomore
F Terrence Jones scored all 14 of his points in the first half against
Vanderbilt, the sixth time this season he had been in double figures by
the end of the first half.
--Sophomore G Doron Lamb was 2-of-7 on three-point tries, the seventh time in eight games he has had at least two treys.
