SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Kentucky at Vanderbilt

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Kentucky visits Vanderbilt on Tuesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Kentucky	0.463	0.324	0.787	223	867	323	119	113	295
Kentucky OPP	0.385	0.288	0.688	250	752	246	115	74	277
Vanderbilt	0.433	0.327	0.687	209	756	272	166	84	300
Vanderbilt OPP	0.465	0.344	0.725	222	829	300	127	73	325

Statistical Leaders

Kentucky Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Immanuel Quickley	Kentucky	14.8	91	104	39
Nick Richards	Kentucky	14.6	126	84	0
Tyrese Maxey	Kentucky	13.4	104	77	24
Ashton Hagans	Kentucky	12.3	84	103	13
EJ Montgomery	Kentucky	6.7	58	17	1
Nate Sestina	Kentucky	5.9	40	22	16
Keion Brooks Jr.	Kentucky	4.8	46	15	3
Kahlil Whitney	Kentucky	3.3	23	10	4
Johnny Juzang	Kentucky	2.8	20	8	8

Kentucky Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
Nick Richards	Kentucky	126.0	190	8.3
EJ Montgomery	Kentucky	77.0	106	5.3
Tyrese Maxey	Kentucky	89.0	96	4.2
Ashton Hagans	Kentucky	86.0	91	4
Immanuel Quickley	Kentucky	75.0	90	4.1
Nate Sestina	Kentucky	58.0	85	4.3
Keion Brooks Jr.	Kentucky	51.0	77	3.3
Johnny Juzang	Kentucky	32.0	41	2.1
Kahlil Whitney	Kentucky	17.0	31	1.7

Vanderbilt Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	16.9	134	96	24
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	11.2	73	90	21
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	8.3	64	31	31
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	6.7	52	18	32
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	4.8	37	32	5
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	3.8	33	18	0
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	2.1	17	10	5

Vanderbilt Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	DR	TR	RPG
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	105.0	129	5.6
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	53.0	92	4.2
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	59.0	76	3.3
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	62.0	72	3.1
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	58.0	70	3
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	57.0	68	4.9
Clevon Brown	Vanderbilt	32.0	54	6
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	37.0	54	2.3
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	41.0	51	2.2
Braelee Albert	Vanderbilt	6.0	17	1.5
Oton Jankovic	Vanderbilt	8.0	11	0.8
Jon Jossell	Vanderbilt	3.0	3	0.6
Isaiah Rice	Vanderbilt	0.0	1	0.1

NCAA RPI

Kentucky: 22

Vanderbilt: 152

Kentucky Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Ashton Hagans	G	6′-3″	198	SO	Cartersville, GA
1	Nate Sestina	F	6′-9″	234	SR	Emporium, PA
2	Kahlil Whitney	F	6′-6″	210	FR	Chicago, IL
3	Tyrese Maxey	G	6′-3″	198	FR	Garland, TX
4	Nick Richards	F	6′-11″	247	JR	Kingston, Jamaica
5	Immanuel Quickley	G	6′-3″	188	SO	Havre De Grace, MD
10	Johnny Juzang	G	6′-6″	214	FR	Los Angeles, CA
11	Dontaie Allen	G	6′-6″	200	FR	Falmouth, KY
12	Keion Brooks Jr.	F	6′-7″	205	FR	Fort Wayne, IN
13	Riley Welch	G	6′-0″	185	JR	Littleton, CO
14	Brennan Canada	F	6′-6″	198	FR	Mount Sterling, KY
21	Zan Payne	G	6′-4″	235	FR	Lexington, KY
23	EJ Montgomery	F	6′-10″	228	SO	Fort Pierce, FL
33	Ben Jordan	F	6′-9″	250	SO	Olive Hill, KY

Vanderbilt Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Saben Lee	G	6′-2″	183	JR	Phoenix, AZ
1	Dylan Disu	F	6′-9″	220	FR	Pflugerville, TX
2	Scotty Pippen Jr.	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Los Angeles, CA
3	Maxwell Evans	G	6′-2″	190	JR	Houston, TX
4	Jordan Wright	G	6′-5″	226	FR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	D.J. Harvey	G	6′-6″	235	SO	Bowie, MD
10	Drew Weikert	G	6′-0″	170	SO	Nashville, TN
13	Matthew Moyer	F	6′-8″	229	JR	Gahanna, OH
14	Isaiah Rice	G	5′-11″	195	JR	Indianapolis, IN
15	Clevon Brown	F	6′-8″	232	SR	San Antonio, TX
20	Trace Arbuckle	G	6′-2″	170	JR	Carmel, IN
21	Jon Jossell	G	5′-9″	160	SR	Arcadia, OK
24	Aaron Nesmith	F	6′-6″	213	SO	Charleston, SC
42	Quentin Millora-Brown	F	6′-10″	229	FR	Lorton, VA
50	Ejike Obinna	F	6′-10″	243	SO	Enugu, Nigeria
55	Oton Jankovic	F	6′-10″	212	FR	Napa, CA

Scouting Report

Kentucky (18-5, 8-2 SEC) defeated Tennessee 77-65 on Saturday in Knoxville. Immanuel Quickley led the Cats with 18 points. Santiago Vescovi paced Tennessee with 18 points. UK this one with superior shooting and defense. UK hit 54% of its fields and 50% from the 3-point line. The Vols struggled hitting just 35% from 3-point range and 27% from 3-point range.

UK is averaging 75.3 points per game so far this season and allows 65.7 points a contest. Immanuel Quickley leads the Cats in scoring (14.8 ppg). The other players who also average at least 12 points a game include Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards and Tyrese Maxey. Richards also leads the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg) Hagans is one of the best guards in the country both offensively and defensively. Kentucky as a team is shooting 46.3% (3rd SEC) from the field, 32.4% (6th SEC) from 3-point range and 78.7% (1st SEC) from the line. The Cats are second in the league in 3-point shooting defense (28.8%) and first in the conference in field goal shooting defense (38.5%).

Vanderbilt (9-14, 1-9 SEC) fell to Mississippi State 80-70 on Saturday in Starkville. Vanderbilt’s Saben Lee led the Commodores with 20 points. Reggie Perry of Mississippi State topped the Bulldogs with 25 points. State won this game with superior defense, forcing 16 Vandy turnovers. The Bulldogs also blocked eight Vandy shots compared to the Commodores’ one block.

Vandy’s Aaron Nesmith (23 ppg) is the Commodore’s and SEC’s leading scorer, however, he is out for the season with an injury. In his absence Saben Lee (16.9 ppg) has taken over that role. Freshman forward Dylan Disu leads Vandy in rebounding 5.6 rpg. For the season Vandy is shooting 43.3% from the field, 32.7% from 3-point range and 68.7% from the free throw line. Vandy is eighth in the SEC in scoring averaging 72.7 points a game. The Commodores are 12th in the SEC in scoring defense allowing 74.2 point per contest. Vandy is dead last in field goal percentage defense (46.5%) and also last in 3-point shooting defense (34.4%).

Vandy played well against UK about a month ago. That happened in 2019 too but Kentucky later ran Vanderbilt out of its on gym in Nashville.

Kentucky-Vanderbilt Prediction

Kentucky 77, Vanderbilt 69

Tuesday‘s game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. CT). TV: ESPN.