NoB Preview: Kentucky vs Vanderbilt

Josh White




KENTUCKY WILDCATS vs. VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Saturday, February 11, 2012, Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee
9:00 Tipoff, ESPN




The Cats have been on an unprecendented streak as of late, using staunch defense, terrific inside play and solid team basketball in winning six of their last seven games by double digits. Tonight comes what arguably could be their greatest challenge to date, when they travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.


The Commodores (17-7, 6-3 SEC) come into this game in good position for a decent seed in the NCAA tournament, but early season losses to Cleveland State and Indiana State (both at home, by the way) have put a damper on their resume. Not only would a win against Big Blue put a massive feather in their tournament cap, it would likely catapult them back into the national rankings.


In all fairness, those two bad losses came without senior center Festus Ezeli, who missed time with a knee injury. Since his return, Vandy has returned back to form, livcing up to the expecations given when pollsters named them the seventh best team in the country. In 14 games this season, Ezeli is averaging 10.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.


The star of this team is undoubtedly John Jenkins, the hot-shooting junior guard from Hendersonville, Tennessee. Jenkins averages 19.7 points per game, and has scored 20 or more points in even games this season, including a season-high 28 against NC State on November 19. He hasn't scored less than 11 points all season, those points ironically coming in the loss to Indiana State.


Another Vandy star to watch is senior forward Jeffrey Taylor, who also has a hot scoring hand, contributing 17.8 points per game in addition to 5.8 rebounds and a 47.8% three point percentage. He's been on a real hot streak as of late, averaging 19.3 points over his last eight games, including an impressive 25 points in a tough loss to Florida last Saturday.


PREDICTION: Kentucky has been on a roll lately, but this game isn't going to be easy. Consider that the Cats tend to struggle at Memorial Gym, as they're 3-7 in their last three trips to the oddball arena. These two teams have formed somewhat of a rivalry of late, with some real-life animosity between Coach Cal and Vandy Coach Kevin Stallings (although to be fair, Stallings doesn't like anybody). Another interesting statistic, Vanderbilt has seven wins over number one teams. One of those teams? Kentucky in 1993. Kentucky is on a 16 game win streak, and even though it will be a fight to the finish, expect that strek to grow to 17.


Kentucky 74, Vanderbilt 70