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The Kentucky Wildcats went on the road to Nashville and beat the Vanderbilt Commodores, 78-66, on Tuesday night for their first road victory of the season. You might say they beat Vanderbilt and that’s not very impressive. However, what you may not realize is that Vanderbilt was 9-5 coming into the game (all-be-it against unranked teams) and Kentucky’s star floor general Sahvir Wheeler remained out.
Kentucky had also struggled to put away games outside of their home stadium, yet they were able to lean heavily on superstar big man Oscar Tshiebwe for a heavily efficient night on offense. Tshiebwe had a monster 30 point and 13 rebound performance against a Vanderbilt lineup with not much size on defense. Davion Mintz and Tyty Washington weren’t as efficient shooting the ball (combined 9-19 from the field) but found the big man inside and managed to commit just five turnovers.
FINAL: Kentucky 78, Vanderbilt 66
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) January 12, 2022
Cats cruise to victory in Nashville behind 30 points, 13 rebounds from Oscar Tshiebwe.
UK did not score in the final 6:14 tonight but still won by double-figures. pic.twitter.com/R07auFEGPJ
The Wildcats were able to put together a quality road win ahead of their headliner matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers in Lexington on Saturday. With the hopes of Wheeler being able to return from his neck injury, the Wildcats should be even more efficient on offense and better positioned to add on to their winning streak.
Tweet of the Day:
Hear me out. Sahvir Wheeler being out the last two games might turn out to be a positive. Kentucky is and will be better with Wheeler but it's forced minutes at the point for TyTy and allowed Davion Mintz to find himself. That bodes well for this team when Wheeler returns.
— Shawn Smith (@gbbcountry) January 12, 2022
A blessing in disguise?
Headlines
Never doubt Marrow when he says players are coming back - Vaught’s Views
Worth every penny.
Offensive efficiency leads Kentucky to first road win - Kentucky Sports Radio
Big night for Tshiebwe.
QUICK TAKES: Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt - Cats Illustrated
First impressions after last night’s victory.
Washington standing out among SEC’s star freshmen - Kentucky Sports Radio
He’s put together quite a few solid performances.
No. 1 Baylor, last unbeaten team in D-1 Basketball, falls to Texas Tech - ESPN
No more unbeaten teams remain.
Rich Bisaccia deserves NFL COY for getting the Raiders over the line - Yahoo!
Heck of a job by the interim.
Star Alabama Crimson Tide WR Jameson Williams has torn ACL - ESPN
Prayers for a speedy recovery.
Eric Dickerson comments on Antonio Brown’s exit from Bucs - USA Today
“A bad decision that will follow him the rest of his life.”