Kentucky Bounces Back Against Vanderbilt, 30 January 2010

The Vanderbilt Commodores came into Rupp Arena undefeated in SEC play (5-0) and riding a 10-game win streak.  The Kentucky Wildcats looked to bounce back after their first loss of the season at South Carolina on Tuesday.  LeBron James was in Rupp Arena to watch the game today.  LeBron is reportedly close with UK Freshman star, John Wall, and also close with Coach Calapari.  The talk of the day was, will Kentucky come out like a team looking to make a statement after their first loss.  The Wildcats answered that question quickly!  The Cats broke the game open early and lingered around a 15-point lead throughout most of the first half.  DeMarcus Cousins was huge in the early moments of the game, but got into foul trouble about half-way through the first half and sat the rest of the half.  The Cats had a 15-point lead at half-time, leading by a score of 49-34.

The second half was pretty much even between the teams, neither of them really putting up a good run against the other.  Kentucky was able to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the second half, never leading by less than 10 points.  DeMarcus Cousins and Darnell Dodson (started the game for UK) led the way in points with John Wall dishing out the basketball.  The final score of the game was 85-72 in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Top Performers for Kentucky were:
DeMarcus Cousins - 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Darnell Dodson - 16 points, 7 rebounds
John Wall - 13 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal (7 turnovers)
Eric Bledsoe - 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Patrick Patterson - 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks (4 turnovers)
DeAndre Liggins - 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals

Kentucky is looking for a good fit at the small forward position and it seems as though Darnell Dodson can fill that hole if he can play every game like he did today.  DeAndre Liggins also had a good game off the bench with 9 points and 4 rebounds.  Kentucky made a statement on the boards, outrebounding Vanderbilt (39-21).  Kentucky shot well from behind the 3-point line, going 12 for 23 for a percentage of 52%.  The Wildcats’ next game is on Tuesday night at home versus Ole Miss, 2 February 2010 at 7:00 p.m. (EST).