Photo by UK Athletics
Kentucky struggled to land, but still managed to get out of Memorial Gymnasium with an 82-78 victory over Vanderbilt.
The wild birds led up to 17 in the first half after an explosive start by BJ Boston. The goalkeeper at the beginning of the year had eight early points, when Great Britain opened the game on a 10-0 race. Despite the early success, the inevitable marked drought reappeared, allowing Vandy to get back into the game.
Starting with the 10-minute mark, Great Britain went five minutes without scoring. The cats hit a few buckets late to get a pillow that won’t last. Vanderbilt opened the second half in an 11-2 run to reach a point. Dylan Disu, the best player on the field on Wednesday night, who led all the scorers with 29 points and 16 rebounds, equalized the game with 13:54.
After the brightest star in Kentucky in the first 25 minutes, Isaiah Jackson, was removed from the wrong problems, two unlikely heroes appeared for Kentucky: Olivier Sarr and Jacob Toppin.
Earlier, without a score, Sarr had a six-point burst in just over two minutes to provide UK breathing space. Then Toppin came into the game and did a little bit of everything for the cats, knocking down three, making midrange shots and finishing “and some”. Toppin finished the night with 16 points, while Sarr added 10 points and four blocks. Jackson was a comeback away from a second consecutive double, despite not scoring in the second half. Wildcats won the game from the charity, making 24-for-25 free throws.
Vanderbilt had one last race in the tank. Despite three more by Davion Mintz, the Commodores managed to reduce the deficit to one due to Disu’s heroism. Keion Brooks put an opponent on a poster, however a terrible indictment erased the dagger, it would have been the game of the year. It was such a disgusting lock / charge call that it would make you never want to watch basketball again.
As angry as the last two minutes were, Kentucky got rid of Vanderbilt with an important victory. Wildcats are in a winning streak when they need it most, right before the SEC Tournament.