Saturday was a test for many top-10 teams, whether they were at home or on the road. That included the Kentucky Wildcats, who took on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the afternoon, who were right on the bubble and 3-3 in SEC play.
But Kentucky started out flat, down by 14 points at halftime. It was one of the worst offensive performances of the season at that point for a normally potent team. To the Wildcats’ credit, they were able to come all the way and make it a game late in the final minutes.
Two takeaways from Vanderbilt-Kentucky:
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) January 25, 2025
1) Vanderbilt is a damn good team (and Mark Byington a damn good coach)
2) Kentucky desperately needs to get healthy
Both things can be true.
Congrats to Vandy on a second monster win on back to back Saturdays
But in the end, Vandy got the signature resume-building win, 74-69. Jason Edwards led the team with 18 points, shooting 12/33 from three-point range as a team. Otega Oweh did all he could to keep Kentucky in the game with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while forward Ansley Almonor made four shots from deep. He got the start for Andrew Carr, who has been out with a back injury.
Unfortunately for Kentucky, Coach Mark Pope’s comments in the post-game pressure don’t make it sound optimistic that he’s coming back soon.
Mark Pope gives an update on Andrew Carr’s status after being sidelined for today’s game.
— Cats Coverage (@Cats_Coverage) January 25, 2025
Says they’re trying to get him back but these SEC games usually set him back to square one, so he’s still healing up and they want him back as quick as his body allows. pic.twitter.com/U3ojSy8JwN
Carr, a 6’9 transfer forward from Wake Forest, has been averaging 10.9 ppg and 5.6 rpg on 54% shooting from the field. He’s been averaging a career-high 2.3 assists per game as an underrated passer for the team as well. Carr had 17 points in an earlier win over Duke, along with 19 points and seven rebounds to beat Gonzaga.
Andrew Carr being OUT after a week OFF is BAD news
— T.J. Walker (@TJWalkerRadio) January 25, 2025
Suppose Kentucky’s defense isn’t going to improve. In that case, missing another scorer in the rotation is going to hurt the Wildcats going forward, especially in an unforgiven SEC, which includes a road game at Tennessee coming up next.
The good news is that the Wildcats’ resume is great enough to where they’re not in any danger of missing the NCAA Tournament. However, if Carr’s back doesn’t get better soon, more losses could be coming their way.