Kentucky vs Vanderbilt....A Preview Rd 2

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Vanderbilt….3/1/11 Tuesday 9PM-EST/8PM-CST (ESPN)
UK leads series 133-44

Location: Nashville, TN
Enrollment: 6,794
Arena: 14,316

Head Coach: Kevin Stallings
Career Record: 336-200 (62.7%) 17 seasons
At Vanderbilt: 213-137 (60.9%) 11 seasons

2009-10 Record: 24-9
2009-10 SEC Record: 12-4
2009-10 Postseason: 0-1 (NCAA 1ST round)

2010-11 Record: 21-7
2010-11 SEC Record: 9-5

Vanderbilt 88 Presbyterian 47
Vanderbilt 59 Nebraska 49
West Virginia 74 Vanderbilt 71
Vanderbilt 72 North Carolina 65
Vanderbilt 92 Grambling State 59
Vanderbilt 86 Appalachian State 73
Vanderbilt 82 Western Ky. 62
Vanderbilt 85 Belmont 76
Missouri 85 Vanderbilt 82 (OT)
Vanderbilt 85 Southeastern Louisiana 52
Vanderbilt 72 Middle Tennessee 53
Vanderbilt 77 Marquette 76
Vanderbilt 80 Davidson 52
South Carolina 83 Vanderbilt 75
Vanderbilt 73 Georgia 66
Tennessee 67 Vanderbilt 64
Vanderbilt 84 Mississippi 74
Vanderbilt 89 Saint Mary’s 70
Vanderbilt 81 Mississippi State 74
Arkansas 89 Vanderbilt 78
Florida 65 Vanderbilt 61 (OT)
Vanderbilt 78 South Carolina 60
Vanderbilt 81 Alabama 77
Vanderbilt 81 Kentucky 77
Vanderbilt 64 Georgia 56
Vanderbilt 77 Auburn 66
Tennessee 60 Vanderbilt 51
Tennessee 90 LSU 69

PPG-77
FG%-45.8%
3PT%-38.9%
FT%-74.5%
RPG-38.5
TO’s-14.1
APG-14
SPG-5.3
BPG-5.0

Probable Starting Lineup

Lance Goulbourne F 6’8” Jr…………..…6.9
Jeffery Taylor F 6’ 7” Jr…………..…....14.5
Festus Ezeli C 6’11” Jr………………....12.4
Brad Tinsley G 6’3” Jr………..………..10.9
John Jenkins G 6’4” Soph……………...19.5

Other Key Players

Steve Tchiengang F 6’9” Jr………..….…5.3
Kyle Fuller G 6’1” Fr……………………2.0
Rod Odom 6’9” Fr……………………….4.3

Vanderbilt comes into Lexington winners of 6 of their last 7 SEC games…... and of course, among those victories was an 81-77 win over UK in Nashville. Vandy starts 4 juniors and 9 players average over 14 minutes PG so they are experienced and deep.

The Dores are an excellent perimeter shooting team hitting 39%....with Jenkins hitting 41%..... and has made 84 perimeter shots this season. Tinsley leads the team in assists with 122 thus far this season. Goulbourne, Ezeli and Taylor are all solid rebounders and are tough in the paint. In addition, Vandy is an excellent FT shooting team with leading scorer Jenkins hitting 89% from the charity line.

The Dores, always tough in Nashville, where they hit a smoking hot 11-20 perimeter shots in their win over UK and 20-23 FT’s. Now, Vandy must play the Cats in Rupp arena where they are undefeated at home over the past two years.

Importantly, UK, after a heartbreaking OT loss to Arkansas, returned to Rupp Arena and played arguably their very best total game of the season in defeating a very good Florida team.
The Cats got solid performances from everyone, but game ball goes to Darius Miller who played the best game of his career.

UK is hoping to finish the regular season in a strong fashion by defeating both Vandy and Tennessee….and hope to possibly get a bye for the SEC tourney as well as improving their NCAA seed. The Dores are always tough, but this time the Cats get to play Vandy before the great home crowd at Rupp Arena and on “Senior Night”. Also, UK will want to made senior night very special for Josh Harrellson who has played his heart out this season while overachieving in an amazing fashion.

The terrific performance that UK displayed in taking down the Gators is hopefully a “coming out party” that this young very talented UK team has now learned the hard lessons of growing as team….and playing with great intensity and heart in each and every game.

I see a determined UK team ready to payback Vandy for their earlier loss at Nashville. Cats defeat the Dores by 10 points. GO CATS!