“We’re a different basketball team when he plays that way”, Stallings said.
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“Our bigs were better than their bigs at our place and their bigs were better than ours here, and took it right at us”, Calpliari said.
Kentucky (21-8, 11-5 Southeastern Conference) lost for the second time in three games and for the first time to Vanderbilt since 2013.
A win Saturday before a sellout crowd at Memorial Gym not only could help Vanderbilt clinch an NCAA berth but make a move for the regular-season title and the top seed for the conference tournament next month.
Ulis had 21 points, Murray scored 18 and Poythress added 16 as Kentucky rolled past Vanderbilt 76-57 on January 23.
Calipari pulled his starters and sent them to the locker room with 34.8 seconds to go to avoid the court storming that followed the final horn at Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt came into this game tied with LSU for fourth place and now is just a loss behind Kentucky for the league lead. “If there’s anything that I hope for going forward, it’s that Damian continues with that kind of effort and that kind of aggressiveness, that kind of emotion because again we’re a much, much better team when he produces like that”.
The Wildcats got 33 points from freshman Jamal Murray but little else Saturday at Vanderbilt, and the Commodores bolstered their NCAA Tournament hopes with a 74-62 victory. I know he’s very bad good. Woo!
Poythress, who missed five games with a right knee injury, came off the bench to score 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes. Vanderbilt surged ahead for good on that burst, which started with back-to-back buckets by Damian Jones inside and ended on consecutive 3-pointers from Matthew Fisher-Davis. That allowed Vanderbilt to turn a 39-36 deficit into a 12-point win. Up by as many as seven with 17:50 to play in the second half, the Wildcats went cold when it mattered the most and Vanderbilt capitalized in every way possible. Willis was out for the Vanderbilt game with a sprained ankle…. The Commodores found themselves ranked No. 16 at the end of November only to lose six of eight games to fall out of the top 25. 1 Kentucky in the SEC Tournament final in 2012 before knocking off then-No. The Commodores earned a pair of big victories against Florida and Texas A&M. The Commodores haven’t been regular-season champions since 1993.
RUSHING THE COURT: Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said he knew exactly what Calipari was doing, trying to protect his players. The Commodores reeled off a 13-2 run while United Kingdom failed to make a field goal for four minutes. Stallings said he’d be happier if fans waited until the Wildcats cleared the floor.
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Murray, who made eight of 11 shots (four of five from three-point range), was exhausted and took a seat. Kentucky freshman G Jamal Murray has made a 3-pointer in all 28 games this season….
