Kentucky starts slow, but Rob Dillingham delivers again in Senior Night win over Vandy
Rob Dillingham dazzled again, and the Kentucky Wildcats overcame a lethargic first half to win their final home game of the 2023-24 season.
UK defeated Vanderbilt 93-77 on Wednesday night in Rupp Arena, the home finale for the Cats before they finish off the regular season this weekend at Tennessee. The SEC and NCAA tournaments will follow.
Kentucky won its fourth game in a row Wednesday — its longest winning streak since a season-best six-gamer that began back on Dec. 9 — but the Cats trailed for most of the first half against the SEC’s worst-rated team. Vandy came into the night at No. 207 in the KenPom ratings, last among the league’s 14 teams.
It was Dillingham who sparked the Wildcats late in the first half.
The 6-foot-3 freshman finished with 23 points and made 9 of 15 shots from the field. Playing in his final game in Rupp Arena, senior guard Antonio Reeves scored 20 points. D.J. Wagner had 11 points, and Justin Edwards scored 10 points off the bench, while sophomore Adou Thiero was an energetic presence for the Cats — ending up with six rebounds — and freshman Reed Sheppard dished out 11 assists.
Reeves was honored before the game with Senior Night festivities on the Rupp Arena court, joined by fellow senior Kareem Watkins — a walk-on in his fourth season with the Cats — and graduate transfer Tre Mitchell, who had just two points and one rebound in 12 minutes in his final home game of his only UK season.
John Calipari started Watkins, Reeves and Mitchell alongside Wagner and Ugonna Onyenso, with Edwards replacing Watkins at the first whistle. The 5-8 guard did manage a defensive rebound in his brief time on the court.
Kentucky (22-8, 12-5 SEC) got off to a slow start.
Vanderbilt (8-22, 3-14 SEC) scored the first points of the game and led the Cats 22-16 just past the midway point of the first half, forcing John Calipari to call a timeout. The Commodores led for most of the half — 12 minutes and 41 seconds in all — before Dillingham led a flurry in the final minutes before halftime.
Dillingham, who led the Cats to a comeback win over Arkansas down the stretch Saturday, missed his first four shots against Vandy and committed two turnovers in his first seven minutes on the court. The UK freshman didn’t score until just 4:08 remained on the clock, but that bucket kicked off a run of 12 points to end the period, including two late 3-pointers, the second of which put the Wildcats ahead 42-38 with 38 seconds left, their first two-possession lead of the game to that point.
Reeves nailed a 3-pointer — with one foot on the UK logo at midcourt — at the buzzer to send Kentucky to the halftime locker room with a 45-40 lead.
With the win, Kentucky completed a series sweep of Jerry Stackhouse and the Commodores, who upset the Cats on Senior Night last season and then bounced UK from the SEC Tournament in the quarterfinals the following week.
Vanderbilt will be the 13 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. Kentucky’s seed is still undecided, and the Cats can clinch a double-bye into Friday’s quarterfinals with a win at Tennessee this weekend.
Kentucky-Tennessee is next
The Wildcats will wrap up the regular season Saturday with a trip to Knoxville and a rematch with the No. 4-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, who wrapped up the SEC title Wednesday night.
Tennessee (24-6, 14-3) beat Kentucky 103-92 last month in Rupp Arena, and the Volunteers will be favorites on their home court Saturday (4 p.m. on CBS). UT clinched the SEC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in next week’s league tournament with its win at South Carolina on Wednesday night. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Vols.
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