On Wednesday night at Rupp Arena, Kentucky’s hopes of winning were dashed by Vanderbilt as the Commodores pulled off a stunning 68-66 upset against the No. 23 Wildcats that went down to the wire.
Despite leading for most of the first half, Kentucky was trailing at halftime 34-30.
In the past few years, UK had made a habit of coming from behind to beat Vanderbilt. In fact, they have come back from double-digit deficits five times to defeat the Commodores since 2017. But tonight, the Wildcats could not find their way back to the lead and ultimately fell short.
Probably the biggest story of the night was Cason Wallace going down with around 18:30 to go in the 2nd half. He was able to limp off the court but did not return the rest of the game. That led to the Wildcats having to lean on Thiero, Reeves, Fredrick and sometimes Toppin to handle the rock. None of them excel at the PG position but each of them stepped up. It was shakey for sure.
Oscar Tshiebwe had another dominant night in the loss, recording another double-double with 21 and 20. Although Antonio Reeves struggled from the field he also contributed 14 points
Vanderbilt took control of the game in the second half, building a double-digit lead with just over 15 minutes left to play. The Commodores kept the heat on the Cats and didn’t let them back in the game until just over two minutes left in the game.
But Vanderbilt’s Jordan Wright was not done yet, scoring to tie the game before hitting a crucial jumper in the paint to give his team a two-point lead with just three seconds remaining. Kentucky had one last chance to equalize, but Reeves’ three-pointer missed its mark, and the Wildcats’ comeback hopes were dashed.
With the regular season now over, Kentucky will be looking to bounce back in their upcoming game against Arkansas. The Wildcats will need to regroup and come out firing on all cylinders if they hope to close out the season strong. The game is set to air on CBS at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Read: 6 Things Slowly Killing College Basketball
Read: 14 Reasons Cal Needs To Go
Read: Locker Room Lance Leading Cats
Read: Is Chris Livingston the key to the Kentucky Wildcats
