Kentucky basketball comeback bid falls short. Cats can't close out Vanderbilt in another SEC loss.

Ben Roberts, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jan 25, 2025

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Kentucky Wildcats almost did it again.

Down 14 points at halftime, the No. 9 Cats stormed back to take a seven-point lead but ultimately were handed their second straight loss in SEC play, falling 74-69 to the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium.

Vanderbilt’s Tyler Nickel hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Commodores a 71-69 lead with 1:50 left, and the Cats never led again.

On UK’s ensuing possession, Lamont Butler and Amari Williams mistimed a pass near the top of the key, resulting in a turnover. Devin McGlockton got a putback bucket to give Vandy a 73-69 lead, and a turnover by Otega Oweh on UK’s next possession gave the ball back to the Commodores.

Vanderbilt fans rushed the court after the game.

With the loss, Kentucky dropped to 14-5 on the season and 3-3 in SEC play. Vanderbilt, which beat Tennessee in Nashville last weekend, improved to 16-4 overall and 4-3 in the league. Vandy, which lost to Alabama earlier in the week, was 28th in voting in the AP Top 25 poll this week.

UK also dropped its last game to Alabama, a 102-97 defeat in Rupp Arena last weekend.

Oweh logged his second career double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. It was his first such game with the Wildcats, and he has now scored in double figures in all 19 games as a Kentucky player.

Ansley Almonor scored 12 points in his first start with Kentucky, and Jaxson Robinson added 11.

Jason Edwards led Vanderbilt with 18 points.

After a furious beginning to the first half — the two teams had five possessions each in the first two minutes — things settled down, and it was a one-possession game for much of the period, until a Kentucky cold snap coincided with a Vanderbilt run.

Following a free throw by Williams to give UK a 23-21 lead with 7:49 left in the half — that’s when the first foul of the game was called — the Commodores went on a 20-4 run leading into halftime.

During that stretch, the Cats went 2 for 10 from the field and turned the ball over seven times. They finished the game with 17 turnovers.

Vanderbilt led 41-27 at the break, the second-biggest halftime deficit for a Kentucky team that has found itself trailing after 20 minutes in several games against major opponents this season. UK was down 16 at the half in its comeback victory over Gonzaga last month.

Kentucky started the second half on an 11-0 run and ended up tying the game at 51 on a 3-pointer by Robinson with more than 12 minutes still left to play, erasing the 14-point halftime deficit before the second TV timeout of the second half. Not long after that, Butler hit a driving layup to give UK a 53-51 lead. The Cats ultimately went up 58-51 before Vandy’s next score, but the Commodores went on a run of their own toward the end, taking a 66-63 lead into the final TV timeout.

The Wildcats were playing without starting power forward Andrew Carr, who is dealing with a back injury and was ruled out of the game about two hours before tipoff. In Carr’s place, Almonor made his first start as a Kentucky player. He started 65 games over the past two seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson.

The lineup shuffling that occurred due to Carr’s absence also led to playing opportunities for little-used freshmen Collin Chandler and Trent Noah, who both checked into the game with 12:37 left in the first half. Chandler had played once against SEC competition — three minutes in UK’s loss to Georgia — and Noah hadn’t seen any action since conference play began.

Noah had two points and four rebounds in 12 minutes. Chandler didn’t score in three minutes on the court, and fellow freshman Travis Perry went scoreless in seven minutes, playing just one minute after halftime.

Next up for the Wildcats: another road trip to Tennessee, this one against the No. 6 Volunteers in Knoxville on Tuesday night. The Vols entered the weekend at 17-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC going into a Saturday night game at No. 1 Auburn.

The Cats and Vols will play at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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