National Basketball Association
Kentucky 60, Vanderbilt 58
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 10, 2013
Where: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Ed Corbett, # Tony Greene, # Mike Roberts
Attendance:
14316
By SportsDirect Inc.
Kentucky 60, Vanderbilt 58: Freshman center Nerlens Noel scored 13 points, including a short jumper that just beat the shot clock with 18 seconds remaining and proved to be the game-winner, as the visiting Wildcats withstood a furious second half rally by the Commodores in the SEC opener for both teams.
Guard Ryan Harrow scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds and Archie Goodwin added 12 points for Kentucky (10-4, 1-0), which won its first road game in three tries this season.
Sophomore guard Kedren Johnson led Vanderbilt (6-7, 0-1) with a game-high 18 points, six assists and four steals, but missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it.
Kentucky dominated the first 26 minutes and led 47-31 after a Goodwin layup with 13:49 remaining. But the Commodores switched to a 2-3 zone defense and the Wildcats went scoreless for almost nine minutes - missing 11 field goal attempts while also turning the ball over four times- as Vanderbilt went on an 18-0 run to take a 49-47 lead.
The game was tied 54-54 when Kentucky regained the lead on a jumper by forward Kyle Wiltjer, his first points of the game. The lead was three points when Kentucky ran the shot clock down and Noel converted a short jumper in the key right as the shot clock hit zero to make it 60-55. The basket wasn't reviewed and proved to be a key play because Johnson cut the lead to 60-58 with a 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left, and the Wildcats then turned the ball over on the inbounds play to set the stage for Johnson's last-second miss.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kentucky is 10-0 this season when leading at halftime. ... Vanderbilt started the game 0-for-10 from 3-point range before Johnson nailed a trey just before halftime, the 845th consecutive game the Commodores have made at least one 3-pointer. That's the second longest streak in the nation behind UNLV (856). ... Kentucky finished with eight blocked shots, including four by 7-0 freshman Willie Cauley-Stein and three by Noel.
Top Game Performances
| Kentucky |
|
Vanderbilt |
|
Ryan Harrow 16 |
Scoring |
Kedren Johnson 18 |
|
Willie Cauley-Stein 4 |
Assists |
Kedren Johnson 6 |
|
Willie Cauley-Stein 8 |
Rebounds |
Shelby Moats 10 |
|
Alex Poythress 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Rod Odom 4 |
|
Willie Cauley-Stein 2 |
Steals |
Kedren Johnson 4 |
|
Willie Cauley-Stein 4 |
Blocks |
Josh Henderson 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Kentucky
|
60 |
45.3 |
3-17 |
9-15 |
12 |
35 |
8 |
7 |
16 |
| Vanderbilt
|
58 |
32.9 |
8-30 |
4-8 |
9 |
37 |
2 |
7 |
13 |
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