Off the heels of a tough-fought victory against Texas A&M, the Kentucky Wildcats traveled to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt. Sitting at 3-3 in conference play, the Commodores didn’t look like much of a challenge, but they played well against Tennessee and Alabama, the two best teams in the conference.

From the start, you could tell that Kentucky was not going to overlook this game. The scoring didn’t come in a fury, but the Wildcats were efficient, hitting six of their first ten shots. Yet, their defense is what really set the tone for the game, forcing Vandy to less than 36 percent shooting from the field.

To end the half, John Calipari used his first timeout and set up an out-of-bounds play that was executed to perfection, as Jacob Toppin scored off of a layup, giving the Cats a 36-27 halftime lead.

To start the second half, Kentucky picked up where they left off, as Cason Wallace hit two threes in just over two minutes to extend the lead out to double-digits. From that point, the Wildcats never looked back as they pushed the lead out to as much as 20 points. In the end, Kentucky made a statement with a 69-53 victory, their largest margin of victory since the Louisville game.

Let’s take a closer look at what may be Kentucky’s best performance up to this point of the season.

Defense

Coming in, there was a lot of discussion on if Kentucky would be able to slow down a creative Vanderbilt offense that had been averaging over 80 points in conference play. The Wildcats did just that, giving up just 51 points, Vanderbilt’s second-lowest points total of the season.

Defense against Vanderbilt starts on the perimeter, limiting them from three. For the game, the Commodores did shoot 35.3 percent from deep, but on just six made three-pointers. Of those six, four of them came from Malik Dia, who had only made ten threes on the season prior to the game. Kentucky did a great job of limiting Vanderbilt’s best shooters – Myles Stute and Trey Thomas – who combined for just 1-5 from three.

Kentucky’s ball screen defense was much improved, allowing just one layup directly off a ball screen. The Wildcats also dominated the defensive boards. This not only limited Vanderbilt to just 6-second chance points, but also allowed Kentucky to push the ball up against the Vanderbilt defense at times.

Sahvir Wheeler Performs Well In New Role

Since the start of Kentucky’s winning streak, the one common theme has been the reduced playing time of Sahvir Wheeler. While some have used this as an opportunity to make the case against Wheeler, John Calipari has been sure to note that Kentucky will need him this season in his new role.

Playing 22 minutes, Wheeler recorded four points and five assists. Yet, his impact was felt more outside of the stat book, as he brought physicality and allowed Cason Wallace to be more aggressive as a scorer when they were in together.

Following the game, Calipari talked about Wheeler and is proud of him for accepting his new role. “I kissed Sahvir. I’ve got sweat all over my face and I kissed him. I said ‘I’m about ready to cry’. I know what he’s been through, you don’t.”

Breaking Through

It is important to note that the personnel has always been there and it has taken time, but the team looks to finally be playing within themselves and in their roles. On Tuesday, that resulted in possibly Kentucky’s best game, from start to finish, this season.

The most notable example of this has been the emergence of Antonio Reeves who is averaging 16.8 ppg since and including the Alabama game. The Illinois State transfer played purely as a shooter in the early part of the season, but as of late, has built the confidence to score in other ways at the Power Five level.

It’s not just Antonio every player is doing their part, including Jacob Toppin who has been rebounding much better, allowing Kentucky to play ‘the lineup’.

On Tuesday, each player in ‘the lineup’ – Wallace, Reeves, Fredrick, Toppin, and Tshiebwe – scored in double figures, which is promising for the offense going forward. With that said, if Kentucky can continue to play the level of defense, they can beat A LOT of teams.

Just watch how they are playing. The Wildcats are having fun and are playing confidently, which is a positive sign with a big test against Kansas coming up.