Colin Chandler scored a career-high 23 points and made six shots from 3-point range as Kentucky exacted some revenge with a 91-77 victory over No. 25 Vanderbilt on Saturday at Lexington, Ky.
Otega Oweh also scored 23 points, Denzel Aberdeen had 15 and Malachi Moreno added 11 as the Wildcats (19-10, 10-6 SEC) delivered some payback after an ugly 80-55 loss to the Commodores earlier this season.
Tyler Taner scored 19 points and Jalen Washington added 16 for Vanderbilt (22-7, 9-7), who have dropped three of their past five games in conference play. Tyler Nickel scored 13 points, AK Okereke added 12 and Duke Miles had 11 points for the Commodores.
The Wildcats were red-hot early, shooting 54.8% in the first half, including 9-for-16 (56.3%) from 3-point range while opening a 20-point lead that Vanderbilt narrowed to 46-31 at halftime. Chandler drilled five 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the opening half.
Kentucky shot 58.8% in the game and made half of its 22 3-point attempts.
Vanderbilt never led after the opening minute of the game and went down by double digits for the first time with 13:31 remaining in the first half. The Commodores pulled within 48-36 early in the first half but never cut the deficit under double digits in the second half.
Chandler was 6-for-8 from 3-point range, while Oweh went 9 of 16 from the floor with four assists.
Kentucky clinched a winning record SEC play in its attempt to earn a bye on the opening day of the SEC tournament.
Tanner was 9 of 12 from the floor for Vanderbilt, while Washington was 7 of 8 off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds. Miles added seven assists.
Vanderbilt opened the season 16-0 but is now 3-4 since a loss to Oklahoma on Feb. 7. The Commodores entered the game with a No. 17 NET ranking.
–Field Level Media
