The Cats face one of the more important games of the season when they head out on the road for a show down with Vanderbilt. Kentucky needs this game to stay in the race for the SEC East as well as seeding in the NCAA tournament. The Cats also need to show that they can beat a quality SEC team on the road. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt is one of the toughest places to play in all of college basketball- not necessarily because of the loud atmosphere but the strange setup including unusual shot clock location and benches behind the basket.
Vanderbilt is ranked 23rd in the AP and 24th in the ESPN poll (Kentucky is 18th in both), so the teams are pretty evenly matched according to the rankings. Keys to the game are as follows:
-Seniors must show up. Against Tennessee Liggins and Harrellson were huge and they must find a way to play like that for the rest of the year if the Cats are going to live up to their potential. Miller needs to find a way to make his mark as well.
-Play a full game. So often the Cats play well for 30 minutes, but a 10 minute lapse dooms them. Against a good team the Cats can't afford anything less than 100% effort on all possessions.
-Knight and Lamb must hit their outside shots and Terrence Jones must take good shots and limit turnovers.
-Vanderbilt is a deep team with 4 players averaging over 10 points a game (John Jenkins-19.2, Jeffery Taylor-15.1, Festus Ezeli-12.7, and Brad Tinsley-10.7). With such well rounded scoring, every Kentucky player will need to play tough defense.
This promises to be a tough and exciting game, but I predict the Cats will finally find a way to get it done on the road.
Go Cats!!!!!!!!!!!
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