NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Oscar Tshiebwe scored a career-high 30 points and brought in 13 rebounds, and No. 18 Kentucky never trailed in a 78-66 victory over Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (13-3, 3-1 SEC) ran their winning streak over Vanderbilt to 11 as they shot 58 percent from the field. TyTy Washington added 15 for Kentucky.
Scotty Pippen Jr. poured in 32, and Trey Thomas added 14 for the Commodores (9-6, 1-2 SEC).
Vandy hits the road this weekend to face Georgia (5-10, 0-2 SEC) at 5 p.m. CT Saturday.
Kentucky began the game Tuesday with a 7-0 run before Vanderbilt settled in and got back-to-back 3s to draw within one point at 9-8 at the 16:40 mark. But it would be 3 1/2 minutes before the Commodores scored again—on another Pippen 3—and the Wildcats built a 17-8 lead before then.
Davion Mintz splashed a left-corner 3 giving Kentucky a 22-11 advantage a little less than eight minutes into the half. Vandy, however, exploded with an 11-0 run to tie the score at 22-all over a five-minute stretch.
The Wildcats punched back by scoring 14 straight, seven of which came from Kellan Grady. Kentucky took a 41-28 lead into the break after shooting 60.7 percent, winning the rebounding battle 19-12 and scoring nearly half (20) of its points from inside the paint.
Vandy got 17 points from Pippen in the first half.
Kentucky extended its lead to 53-36 on a Keion Brooks triple a little more than 3 1/2 minutes into the second half. Washington’s midrange jumper with 13:35 to go put the Wildcats up 58-40.
The Wildcats built a lead as large as 28 with 6:14 on the clock. Vandy ended the game on a 16-0 run to put the final deficit at 12.
- Pippen is still 42nd on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list with 1,097 career points. Luke Kornet (1,135) is 41st.
- Vanderbilt is now 47-151 all-time against Kentucky and 23-50 at home against the Wildcats.
- Vandy’s last win against a ranked opponent was Feb. 5, 2020, over No. 18 LSU.
- Thomas has now played in 40 straight games for the Commodores.
- Jordan Wright has now started 30 straight games for Vanderbilt.
- Attendance on Tuesday was announced as 8,343
Cats Top Dores at Home by Vanderbilt Athletics on Exposure href=”https://exposure.co” style=”text-transform:uppercase”>Exposure
