Vanderbilt basketball needed to find new contributors against Kentucky on Jan. 27 with Duke Miles out with a knee injury.
The obvious choices to fill a bigger role were Tyler Harris and Mike James, but both players had modest impacts. Harris didn’t score; James scored five points with three rebounds.
Instead, it was two freshmen who helped play key roles as No. 15 Vanderbilt defeated Kentucky, 80-55, at Memorial Gymnasium in its largest margin of victory against the Wildcats (14-7, 5-3 SEC) since 2008. The Commodores (18-3, 5-3) don’t have a firm timetable on when Miles would be back. He is having a knee procedure that could keep him out a few more games, but Vanderbilt second-year coach Mark Byington was confident it won’t be long.
