Vicky Graff Photo
Rob Dillingham had another big scoring game for Kentucky in Tuesday’s 109-77 win at Vanderbilt that snapped UK’s two-game SEC losing streak. However, it was defense, not offense, that Dillingham talked about after the game.
“I feel like we can definitely be very dangerous. We have got to do little things and got to want it,” said Dillingham who scored 20 points, handed out nine assists and had three rebounds, during a SEC Network interview. “Once we learn to play like that all the time we can be good.
“Cal said to play like we had nothing to lose but it was something coming from us. We did not want to get embarrassed playing defense like that (against Tennessee in Saturday’s loss), so we locked in.”
Kentucky got the 32-point win even with guard D.J. Wagner out a third straight game with an ankle injury and Tre Mitchell out after dealing with back pain for three weeks. However, it didn’t matter because not only did Dillingham have 20 points and Antonio Reeves 24, but others had breakout offensive games.
— Freshman Justin Edwards went 5-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 at the foul line to finish with 17 points in 20 minutes. His steal and windmill dunk in the second half was a highlight maker.
— Aaron Bradshaw got 18 minutes and responded with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and 4-for-4 at the foul line along with seven rebounds.
— Seldom-used Jordan Burks got 15 minutes and made them count with 6-for-6 shooting to score 13 points. He also had five defensive boards.
— Zvonimir Ivisic played only 12 minutes before fouling out but he went 5-for-7 from the field to score 11 points. He had seven rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
Bradshaw didn’t mince words, either, on the UK Radio Network postgame show after helping UK outbound Vanderbilt 50-28 and get a season-high 48 points in the paint.
“We needed this. We had to just come out and play our game,” Bradshaw said. “We had to step up. We are not getting rebounds. We are not blocking out. We looked soft.”
Looked soft? Kentucky has been soft in losses to Texas A&M, South Carolina and especially Tennessee. Vandy did not present the same type of physical test but the Cats overwhelmed the Commodores and probably dove on the floor more in this game than they did in the previous two weeks.
Bradshaw said the guards and bigs had “long, long” separate talks about their jobs on the court.
“We all have a job. If we do our jobs correctly, nobody can mess with us,” Bradshaw said.
He said coach John Calipari told them to just have fun — something Kentucky has not looked like it was doing the last two weeks — and “most importantly defense.” This time UK had fun because it did play better defense but it also went 41 of 74 from the field, 15 of 26 from 3 and 12 of 12 at the foul line.
“We have to get ready for March,” Bradshaw said.
6 Responses
We got 9 games left, hopefully this is a start of building toward March. Will see!!
The Vandy game was fun to watch, but it was VANDERBILT. The Gonzaga game will tell us a lot about what might be possible for the rest of the season. They are built like South Carolina and used to have a pretty good coach if he isn’t drinking. A loss will bring down the curtain on this season; a win means there could be hope for a comeback…maybe. Will there be enough minutes and shots to keep everyone happy now that we are getting down to crunch time for the NBA wannabes? Are we tough enough to rebound and play defense with the good teams? Maybe and MAYBE. I’ve seen too much from this team to get too optimistic. Remember, this was Vanderbilt.
So everyone is jealous now? We have too many good players? In August all you heard was there’s not going to be enough to practice. NBA Wannabes? You just wished you had a son worthy of the NBA. I guess Cal should just tell the #1 point guard and center they can’t come now because Barry don’t want future NBA stars at Kentucky. Wallow in your own pity.
Jimmy, you really are self absorbed to the point of being pathetic. You need to get some help before you can’t be helped. Send me your address and I’ll mail you a check for the time that I am spending in your head. If you can’t afford a therapist, I’ll take up a collection to help you out with that too. The way you obsess about things combined with your anger issues and talk about children makes me hope that there are none in your life for their sake.
UK will be favored to beat Gonzaga at Rupp. Gonzaga, like this UK team, has struggled. Their performance over the last month has been showing improvement while UK’s performance over recent weeks has shown decline. They enter this game with almost identical adjusted net efficiency, but Gonzaga has played more efficient defense while UK has played more efficient offense.
This is a game UK should win, and it is a game that UK must win if Calipari wants to continue with his swaggy ways for a few more days.
Hope the Cats win, Professor. But, to tell the truth, Cal’s swaggy ways are making me sick.