Davion Mintz tied a career-high with 21 points off the bench as No. 5 Kentucky fended off pesky Vanderbilt 77-70 in Southeastern Conference play Wednesday night in Lexington, Ky.
Coming off Saturday’s 80-62 triumph at then-No. 5 Kansas, the Wildcats (18-4, 7-2 SEC) won for the seventh time in eight games and third straight overall by building a 10-point halftime to beat Vanderbilt for the 12th consecutive meeting.
Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. netted a season-high 33 points and added six rebounds and five assists.
The Commodores (11-10, 3-6) made a strong push early in the second half, trimming the deficit to 44-43 on Jordan Wright’s jumper with 15:55 left.
After Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse received a technical foul, Mintz drilled a 3-pointer to key an 12-3 run by the Wildcats for some breathing room.
Mintz was 4 of 7 from distance and made all five free throws.
SEC Player of the Week Keion Brooks Jr. totaled 20 points in his second straight game reaching at least 20, but the Wildcats shot 38.6 percent from the field.
Kellen Grady had 12 points on 4 of 8 long-range shooting. Oscar Tshiebwe — Kentucky’s leading scorer and the nation’s leading rebounder — posted 11 points and 17 boards in his 16th double-double.
The Wildcats were victorious over Vanderbilt for the 14th straight time at home, where they improved to 14-0 on the season.
Wright scored 14 with 10 boards for Vanderbilt. Quentin Millora-Brown produced seven points and seven rebounds before fouling out late.
The Wildcats claimed a 78-66 win in the schools’ first matchup on Jan. 11 in Nashville, Tenn., and the Commodores started well behind Pippen running the offense.
He scored seven points in the first 6:35 as the visitors trailed 11-9, but Kentucky moved the lead to six on Mintz’s four-point play at 13:22.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari was issued a technical foul at 11:21 after Tshiebwe received his first personal foul while trying to secure an offensive rebound.
Pippen, who had 17 first-half points, drained a corner trey at the half’s buzzer, but Grady’s 12 points lifted the home team to a 41-31 edge at the break.
–Field Level Media