Tyler Tanner scored 19 points, dished out five assists and had four steals, while Devin McGlockton scored 11 points and added 12 rebounds, as No. 18 Vanderbilt hammered visiting Kentucky, 80-55, in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt (18-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) held Kentucky to a season low in points as the Wildcats hit just 32.2% from the floor.
The Commodores led by 20 at the break and never let the ‘Cats closer than 17 in the second half and, aided by 80% foul shooting, simply milked the shot clock into single digits on one possession after another late in the game.
Tyler Nickel added 19 points for the Commodores, while Otega Oweh (20) and Denzel Aberdeen (15) led the Wildcats in scoring.
The Commodores, behind Tanner’s spectacular first half (12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three first-half steals in 19 minutes) and a near-double double from McGlockton (nine points, nine rebounds), led 43-23 at the break.
Kentucky struggled against Vanderbilt’s man-to-man defense in the first half. The Wildcats missed their first nine shots from the floor, didn’t score for the game’s first 3:57 and shot 28.1% for the period.
A Mike James steal and his subsequent kick-out to Chandler Bing for a transition 3 made Vandy’s lead 38-19, forcing a Kentucky timeout with 3:40 left in the half.
A pair of Tanner free throws about a minute and a half later pushed the lead over 20 (40-19) for the first time.
A Jayden Leverett offensive rebound and buzzer-beating put-back made it 43-23 at half.
Aberdeen led Kentucky with 10 first-half points on 4 of 8 shooting. The rest of the Wildcats shot 5 of 24 from the floor.
Vanderbilt’s Duke Miles, the team’s second-leading scorer (16.6), was an unexpected scratch about two hours before tip-off and spent the evening in street clothes on the bench.
–Field Level Media
