Kentucky crumbles to close the first half, trails Vanderbilt 41-27

I’m not sure we’ve seen Kentucky play worse in a single half this season—Gonzaga the only matchup with a bigger deficit (16), and that was a top-10 matchup over 2,400 miles away from home. Vanderbilt outscored the Wildcats by all accounts, using a 20-4 run to take a 41-27 lead going into halftime.

Starting as a back-and-forth scoring game, where the two traded baskets without error called through ten minutes, Mark Pope’s group crumbled down the stretch, a disaster defensively, while turning the ball over 10 times-eight coming between 9:26 and : 31 brands. As a team, the Cats are shooting just 37.9 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three with Brandon Garrison (6), Jaxson Robinson (6) and Otega Oweh (4) the only players with multiple buckets.

Vanderbilt, however, is shooting 44.7 percent overall and 38.9 percent from three with seven makes from deep — a team that averages just 8.3 per possession. Match. Commodore star Jason Edwards led the way with 12 points on 5-7 shooting and 2-2 from Deep.

Nothing more to say. 20 minutes to get it right or it will be a long, nasty bus ride home to Lexington.