Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s impressive win at Vanderbilt

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 69-53 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

1. The Cats are clearly rolling

That home loss to South Carolina seems like so many moons ago. Kentucky has won four straight games since. The upset of fifth-ranked Tennessee in Knoxville got the train rolling. Home wins over Georgia and Texas A&M grew the streak to three. Then Tuesday, the Cats took apart Vanderbilt on the Commodores’ home floor to make it four.

Sort of home floor. Truth be told, Vandy didn’t enjoy much of a home-court advantage Tuesday as Memorial Gymasium was nowhere near full, and most of those who did show up for the 8 p.m. CT tip were dressed in blue. As the game progressed, so did their smiles and their voices as UK won its 14th straight game over the Commodores.

Kentucky closed the first half on a 7-0 run for a 36-27 lead at the break. Then John Calipari’s club started the second half with a 12-3 run for some significant separation. The visitors pretty much carried it home from there.

After shooting 55.5 percent the first half, the Cats ended up shooting 56.4 for the night. They made six of 16 three pointers and — get this — took just two free throws, hitting one.

They dominated the ‘Dores on the boards 37-24, pounded Vandy in the paint 26-22, and limited Jerry Stackhouse’s team to just 32.7 percent shooting from the floor.

Not a bad all-around night for a Kentucky team that is now 14-6 overall and 5-3 in the SEC.

2. Antonio Reeves has been key to the turnaround

Much of the postgame talk centered on the play of Sahvir Wheeler, and for good reason. Kentucky’s starting point guard all of last season and for the first two months of this season had been relegated to coming off the bench since he missed the Tennessee game with a shoulder injury — and Kentucky won. Tuesday, Wheeler played 22 minutes as a key sub. He handed out five assists and was considered important in igniting the Cats’ run that basically put the game away.

But let’s put in a good word for Antonio Reeves, the transfer from Illinois State whose offensive production has been invaluable in the current win streak. Tuesday night, Reeves led the Cats with 16 points. He was 7 of 14 from the floor, including 2 of 5 from three-point land. That gives the 6-foot-5 senior from Chicago 68 points in his these last quartet of games — 18 at Tennessee; 11 vs. Georgia, 23 vs. Texas A&M and 16 against the ‘Dores.

“He’s been good,” Calipari said after Tuesday’s win. “Very confident. Playing better defensively. Rebounding balls. Mixing it up. And he’s not just worried about offense, he’s worried about playing.”

3. A struggling Kansas is a dangerous Kansas

Saturday is a big one. Kansas comes to Rupp Arena for one last SEC/Big 12 Challenge before ESPN switches to the SEC/ACC Challenge next season. While Kentucky is on a four-game win streak, Bill Self’s Jayhawks will drag a three-game losing streak to Lexington. Kansas lost 83-82 in overtime at Kansas State, then 83-60 (gasp!) at home to TCU before falling 75-69 to Baylor on Monday night in Waco.

One thing to remember: All three of those teams (Kansas State, TCU and Baylor) are ranked. And before the three-game slide, Kansas was ranked No. 2 in the nation. Its only loss was a neutral court 64-50 thumping by Tennessee back in November. We’re talking about the defending national champs here. Rock Chalk Jayhawk.

“Bill Self is a friend,” Calipari said Tuesday. “They’re good.”

Kentucky is good, too; certainly much better than the team we saw suffer a 26-point drubbing at Alabama and be embarrassed by South Carolina. “You guys did write that we had two starters out in that game, right,” Calipari said with a wink on Tuesday. OK, so he didn’t wink. Maybe the wink was implied.

Anyway, Rupp will be rocking on Saturday. A Battle of the Blue Bloods. College basketball two winningest programs and all that. Better yet, it’s another test for just how far this Kentucky basketball team has come since Jan. 10.

Kentucky basketball’s winning streak gets something new. A UK victory with no drama.

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