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No. 16 Kentucky women’s basketball (20-7, 7-6) is set to travel to Nashville, Tenn. for a rematch against No. 5 Vanderbilt (24-3, 10-3 SEC) at 4 p.m. ET.
It will be the 63rd all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Commodores. Vanderbilt holds a 34-28 lead in the series, with a 18-9 lead in games played in Nashville.
The Wildcats left Nashville with a win last season, but prior to that Kentucky dropped four straight games at Memorial Gymnasium.
As a late season conference match up, this game is important to both teams. However, the game is of utmost importance to the Wildcats.
NCAA Women’s March Madness is formatted to reward teams with a No. 4 seed or better with the privilege of hosting the first two rounds. As it currently stands, Kentucky is right on the fringe of this 16-team group.
The Wildcats have three regular season games remaining before the SEC Tournament. Two of these three games are against the two teams atop the SEC standings, in Vanderbilt and South Carolina, both teams are also ranked top-5 in the AP Poll.
With March Madness approaching and resume-boosting opportunities dwindling, Kentucky adding a third top-5 victory to its resume would take a lot of pressure off of the Wildcats performance in the SEC Tournament.
Vanderbilt bested Kentucky in the pairs meeting earlier this season, picking up an 84-83 win on Feb. 5.
It goes without saying that a one-point game could’ve gone either way. However, in this case it can’t be understated how easily that flip could’ve come.
In a game that featured many program highs and record performances for Kentucky, it was Vanderbilt that came away with the win.
Kentucky’s 83 points was the most scored in a home game by the Cats against an AP Top-10 opponent since Feb. 20, 1994.
The Wildcats biggest struggle in the first meeting came in the form of turnovers. Kentucky turned the ball over 20 times, tying its most in a game this season. Vanderbilt took advantage by converting those turnovers into 25 points off of turnovers.
Vanderbilt turned the ball over just six times, and limited Kentucky to five points off of turnovers.
Kentucky also struggled to convert from the free throw line. Kentucky made 11 of 16 free throw attempts, Vanderbilt made 12 of 15 attempts.
The difference in this margin, although seemingly negligible, ended up making all the difference in a one-point game.
Outside of turnovers and free throws, Kentucky put themselves in position to win the game.
The Wildcats had 23 assists against Vanderbilt, its highest count against an SEC opponent this season. It was also the Cats most assists against an AP Top-10 opponent since at least 2002-03.
The Wildcats dominated the glass, outrebounding Vanderbilt 39-21.
Kentucky also boasted the more efficient offense. The Wildcats shot 56.4% from the field and 50% from behind the arc with 20 attempts. Vanderbilt shot 44.8% from the field and 39.3% on 28 attempted 3-pointers.
Vanderbilt was led by Mikayla Blakes in game one, Blakes finished with 37 points, four assists and four steals.
This 37 point outing was not only the highest by a Kentucky opponent this season, it was the only time a player has scored more than 26 points against Kentucky.
Kentucky had a standout performer of its own in the first matchup, Teonni Key finished with a career-high 27 points on 11 of 15 shooting.
Kentucky and Vanderbilt have each played three games since meeting earlier this season, with each team going 2-1 in those three games.
Kentucky suffered a 64-53 loss to No. 4 Texas on the road in the game following the Vanderbilt loss. It was the second lowest scoring game for the Wildcats all season.
In the two games since, Kentucky has picked up a pair of 15+ point victories. Kentucky defeated Texas A&M 75-55 before upsetting No. 14 Ole Miss 74-57 at home.
Vanderbilt followed up its ranked win over Kentucky with two more ranked victories in succession.
After defeating Kentucky, Vandy hosted No. 10 Oklahoma and left with a 102-86 victory. This was followed by an 86-70 win over No. 4 Texas.
After this triad of ranked wins, Vanderbilt suffered its third loss of the season at the hands of unranked Georgia. The Dawgs outlasted a Commodore 14-point comeback attempt, as Vanderbilt missed a shot to head to overtime, resulting in a 76-74 Georgia win.
Both teams have managed two solid wins and a bad loss in the three games since the last meeting.
The matchup that will likely play the largest role in this game is how well the Wildcats defense can contain the Commodores scoring offense.
Vanderbilt ranks fifth in the conference with 84.96 points per game. Kentucky’s scoring defense ranks third in the conference, allowing an average of 58.48 points per game.
Another lens to view this matchup is through field goal percentages.
Vanderbilt’s 47.2% field goal percentage ranks fourth in the conference, while Kentucky’s allowed field goal percentage of 35.8% also ranks fourth in the SEC.
The Commodores also rank third in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 36.9% from behind the arc. Kentucky’s 3-point defense is the fourth best in the SEC, with opponents shooting just 28.5% from behind the arc.
Kentucky also holds the edge in the paint, both on the glass and in the shot-blocking department. The Wildcats +8.33 rebounding margin ranks sixth in the conference, while Vanderbilt ranks 12th a margin of just +1.52.
Kentucky is the best shot-blocking team in the conference, averaging 6.78 blocks per game. Vanderbilt is middle of the pack in this regard, ranking ninth in the SEC with 4.04 blocks per game.
The Commodore defense thrives on chaos, which allowed for their last win over Kentucky. Vandy has a +8.11 turnover margin and averages 11.48 steals per game, both place inside the top three in the conference. It will be imperative that UK prevents turnovers as much as possible
It will likely be a 3-point shootout as both teams are heavily reliant on the 3-pointer. Vanderbilt makes more 3-pointers per game than any team in the SEC, making 9.7 3-pointers per game. Kentucky ranks third in the conference with 8.63 made 3-pointers per game.
With the stage now set, Kentucky and Vanderbilt will battle for another win on its respective March Madness resumes.
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