Wednesday Headlines: First Road Game Win Edition

Kentucky finally gets it done away from Rupp Arena.

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Jan 12, 2022, 6:40am EST

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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

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
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) January 12, 2022

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