National Basketball Association
Kentucky 73, Vanderbilt 67
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Officials:
# Anthony Jordan, # Jamie Luckie, # John Higgins
Attendance:
24036
By The Sports Xchange
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Thanks to the biggest comeback of the John Calipari era, No. 9 Kentucky clinched at least tie for its 48th Southeastern Conference championship.
Freshman guard Malik Monk scored a game-high 27 points, and the Wildcats rallied from 19 points down to beat Vanderbilt 73-67 on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky (25-5, 15-2 SEC) can claim the title outright with a win at Texas A&M on Saturday.
"We weren't desperate enough to start the game," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "But I keep telling them, 'I'm not responsible for your effort, your energy, your fight, you are.'
"But two things happened in the game. They stuck together, no one broke off. That's how you've got to play basketball in March. You've got to fight and stick together. You can't fight and then everybody go do their own thing. You can't win a basketball game."
Freshman forward Bam Adebayo added 16 points for Kentucky, and freshman guard De'Aaron Fox had 13. The Wildcats shot 57.7 percent in the second half to complete the comeback.
Monk was coming off a 33-point effort against Florida on Saturday.
"Malik is maturing right before our eyes," Calipari said. "He had one bad play, where he took it down to the corner, and shot a foot kicker, which he never makes. All we're saying to him is be patient. If you don't have it right away, we're coming back at you."
Vanderbilt (16-14, 9-8) got 21 points from senior forward Like Kornet and 15 from guard Joe Toye. The Commodores shot 44.9 percent and made 11 3-pointers, but that was offset by 25 turnovers, including 17 in the second half when they lost their double-digit lead.
"I thought we came in for the first 35 minutes and really played at a great pace for us on offense and defense," Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said. "I think when things started to slip away is when they picked up their pressure."
After trailing by 19 points early and by 13 points midway through the second half, Kentucky finally overtook Vanderbilt with 4:47 to play on a 3-pointer by Willis to make it 59-57. It was part of a 25-10 run with Adebayo and Monk each scoring seven points.
The game remained tight down the stretch with a 16-foot jumper by Fox putting Kentucky on top to stay at 64-62 with 1:46 remaining. After a Vanderbilt turnover, an offensive rebound put-back by Isaiah Briscoe gave the Wildcats their biggest lead to that point, 66-62, with 1:34 remaining.
A Monk 3-pointer salted the game away at 69-62 with 49 seconds to go. It capped a 7-0 run by Kentucky. Monk added four more free throws with :21.1 and 11.2 for good measure.
Despite the fanfare of Kentucky's Senior Night, complete with a marriage proposal from senior Derek Willis to girlfriend Keely Potts -- she said yes -- it was Vanderbilt that came out on fire, racing to a 7-0 lead. Senior guard Nolan Cressler scored five points.
Vanderbilt pushed the lead to 19 points at 25-6 with 8:02 in the first half. The Commodores were shooting 50 percent with five 3-pointers while Kentucky was 2-for-17 with six turnovers. A Mychal Mulder 3-pointer with 7:43 stopped the trend, beginning a 9-0 Kentucky run that made it 25-15 and by the end of the first half.
NOTES: Kentucky honored Dominique Hawkins, Derek Willis and Mychal Mulder on Senior Night. The trio combines to average 16.5 points per game, the best output from a senior class since John Calipari arrived at the school in 2009. ... The Wildcats' Malik Monk, De'Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo make up the nation's top scoring freshman trio at 50.2 points per game. ... The last time Kentucky overcame a 19-point deficit to win was on March 2, 1994, against Florida. ... Vanderbilt ends the regular season at home Saturday against No. 12 Florida. ... Kentucky and Vanderbilt met for the 189th time on Tuesday. Only Tennessee has faced the Commodores more.
Top Game Performances
| Vanderbilt |
|
Kentucky |
|
Luke Kornet 21 |
Scoring |
Malik Monk 27 |
|
Matthew Fisher-Davis 3 |
Assists |
Isaiah Briscoe 6 |
|
Riley LaChance 6 |
Rebounds |
Derek Willis 8 |
|
Joe Toye 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Malik Monk 9 |
|
Nolan Cressler 2 |
Steals |
Edrice Adebayo 2 |
|
Matthew Fisher-Davis 1 |
Blocks |
Derek Willis 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Vanderbilt
|
67 |
44.9 |
11-28 |
12-16 |
10 |
26 |
3 |
5 |
18 |
| Kentucky
|
73 |
43.6 |
5-17 |
20-26 |
10 |
31 |
4 |
4 |
11 |
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