Vicky Graff Photo
Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse has his team playing as well as any team in the Southeastern Conference and was thrilled that his Commodores beat Kentucky 68-66 in Rupp Arena Wednesday night.
“We still got a lot of basketball ahead of us. But we’re just happy about tonight, coming in and having something to play for at this time of the year,” Stackhouse said. “You know, beating the king at his house, it is pretty special.”
Not sure I remember another rival coach calling John Calipari the “king” but Stackhouse did.
“I mean, I’ve got so much respect for Calipari, and what he’s built and what he’s done. His program, I mean, everybody had him buried at the beginning of the year, and then he got his team playing as well as anybody in the country right now,” Stackhouse said. “So this is a big feat for us, not just to come here and beat them, but being a team that’s been playing probably as good of basketball as anybody.
“We know that we’ve still got work to do. We have a big game at home which should be crazy on Saturday against Mississippi State to close out our season, and hopefully finish on a strong note heading into the SEC tournament, where we could possibly see this team again.”
Vanderbilt forward Jordan Wright, Stackhouse’s first recruit, not only had 23 points for Vandy but got the final two baskets after UK took a 66-64 lead.
“Since me and coach Stackhouse have been here, this is our first-time beating Kentucky. We set the goal last year after we lost in the SEC Tournament, we said we were going to beat all the teams we haven’t beat yet and this was a team we hadn’t beat,” Wright said. “We came out tonight and our big fella went down so we got it done for him.”
Wright said Vandy “faked” taking a timeout before his game-winning shot to catch UK off guard.
“Coach trusted me in that moment and I got into my spot and made the shot,” he said about his fall-away shot.
“It feels great. It was a game we knew we had to win to keep our hopes alive in March Madness. We kind of let one get away with LSU, so we had to come down here and get this one. It was a huge game and a win that we needed.”
9 Responses
Vandy didn’t beat a king.
Vandy didn’t even beat a prince.
Vandy beat a mediocre group that is representative of the Calipari Era’s players’ first emphasis.
Never fear, the NBA draft night and Green Room are only about 3 months away.
Stackhouse did what most do.
He out-coached Cal.
He was down to playing 5 guards and figured out a way to use it and get the win.
SEC first year coach for South Carolina out-coached Cal in Rupp.
We’ve been blown off the floor by Gonzaga, Missouri, Alabama, and Arkansas.
Lost to bad teams in Georgia, USC, and Vandy.
Have 10 losses and will probably end the season with 13 after losing 16 two seasons ago.
Depressing we’re locked into such a terrible contract with the fraud!
Yes Cal has his faults, but last night loss to Vandy isn’t one of them. Vandy made some insane shots and the cats couldn’t find the basket that was the difference plus our defense wasn’t at its best
This team is distracted. Their heads were not in the game last night. You don’t lose 3 of your last 4 Senior Nights at UK…we are getting into Popcorn State territory. Something is going on and it looks like we won’t know what that is until after postseason play is over . My guess would be Wheeler is involved in it. If so, this will be another team ruined by a Calipari pet. $40 million buyout be damned…we are watching our program go up in flames. How long do we have to put up with this? Fire Barnhart, fire Calipari, and find a coach who will bring respect back to our basketball team. I would hire Rick Pitino again for a 3 year stint and then replace him with his son, Richard.
I wouldn’t mine to see Rick Pitino come back
I would take almost anyone at this point.
I mean who could do worse?
At 54-37 over the past 3 seasons Cal has been worse than Gillespie.
Billy G. was such a nasty person, I would have wanted him gone even if he was undefeated.
He was certainly different
Billy Clyde was hired in a hurry. We just looked at his win/loss record at Tech and didn’t look deep enough into him as a person. Pitino has his own character flaws, but I think he would be a good fit for 2-3 years to get us turned around. I would replace him with his son Richard. He learned from the best and has done a good job at schools that don’t get too many looks from 5 star talent. He would not have to rely on OAD talent and would bring kids in who wanted to play for UK and would have more 3 & 4 year players.