Lexington, Ky.--It had been 14 games and the entirety of Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse’s tenure, but on Wednesday night, Jordan Wright and Vanderbilt did it, beating Kentucky on its home floor, 68-66 in Rupp Arena, thanks to Wright's mid-range jumper with 2.6 seconds left.
And with it, Vanderbilt experienced something its grown accustomed to in recent weeks: beating the odds.
"Beating the King at his house is pretty special. I have so much respect for Coach Calipari,” Stackhouse said. "They were playing as good as anybody.”
Wright came off the bench to score 23, while Tyrin Lawrence added 21 as Vanderbilt picked up its 10th conference win.
Kentucky's Oscar Tschiebwe added 21 points and 20 rebounds for the 23rd-ranked Wildcats.
With time running down, Wright spun in the lane and canned about a 14-foot jumper. Kentucky's Antonio Reeves then missed a 3 on the other end as time expired.
“Originally coach kind kind of a fake time out for everyone to get Ezra (Manjon) down there, catch them off-guard but they were kind of ready for it. After that I just told Ezra to get me the ball. Coach trusted me in that moment.
“I just got to my spot and made the shot,” Wright said.
"I just felt like, they don't get a chance to set their defense," Stackhouse said, "and now we get a chance to attack. Jordan got the ball and made a great play."
No matter where things stood, Vanderbilt always seemed to find a way to keep itself in this one. That included an injury to superstar Liam Robbins about three minutes into the evening.
Robbins was spotted on crutches afterwards, with no word on the severity of the injury.
On Wednesday night, it didn't matter.
“Yeah, so, since me and coach Stackhouse have been here, it’s the first time we’ve beaten Kentucky,” Wright said. “We set the goal, last year, after we lost to them in the (Southeastern Conference) tourney last year that we were gonna beat all the teams we haven’t beaten yet. This is a team we hadn’t beat so we came out tonight, our big man went down, we got it done for him.”
Despite a scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes, Vanderbilt found itself leading Kentucky 34-30 at the half after Quentin Millora-Brown knocked down his first career 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Vanderbilt trailed for 15:30 in the half but propelled itself into the lead after an 8-0 run over the last 1:54 before the break.
The Commodores were largely led by their defense and a stagnant Kentucky offense, which shot just 32.4% from the field and 9.1% from 3-point range in the half.
Wright led Vanderbilt with 12 first-half points while Millora-Brown chipped in seven.
Despite being without Robbins, Vanderbilt got out to a quick start to start the second half and got out to an 11-point lead with 15:12 to go in the half. That was Vanderbilt’s largest lead of the night.
The Commodores led until the 2:33 mark when Kentucky tied things at 64 on an Antonio Reeves free throw.
After three empty Vanderbilt possessions, Tshiebwe rattled in a layup to put Kentucky up 66-64.
Vanderbilt quickly countered with a layup by Wright that tied things and ultimately won it on Wright’s turnaround jumper.
A night that started with an extreme low ended in a tremendous high for Vanderbilt.
Kentucky also played much of the night without a key player as point guard Cason Wallace exited after scoring six points in 20 minutes.
Stackhouse picks up first win over Kentucky
It was another night of streak breaking for Vanderbilt.
With its win over Kentucky, the Commodores snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Wildcats, picked up the first win of Stackhouse’s career and effectively spoiled Kentucky’s senior night.
Stackhouse has now defeated every team in the Southeastern Conference in his tenure and has knocked four of those wins out in the last month.
This one felt like more than a win, it felt like a night of growth for Stackhouse’s program.
There’s something that this team has that very few teams in the country seem to, magic. That was shown once again on Wednesday night. That magic may not be contained to Memorial Gymnasium, either.
Three quick takes:
A win that defies everything but makes sense
Vanderbilt is no stranger to adversity and showed that once again on Wednesday night.
When Robbins went down just minutes into the night, Vanderbilt didn’t roll over or curl up. It thrived.
The Commodores entered Wednesday night as 10-point underdogs but left it with one of the biggest wins of Stackhouse’s career.
With the swagger and belief that this team has, things like this shouldn’t be surprising anymore. It’s who they are.
Robbins' injury could be season-changing
It’s rare when there’s something significant enough to take away the attention from a game against a ranked Kentucky team. That was the case on Wednesday night, though.
Robbins left Wednesday night’s game just over four minutes into Wednesday night’s contest after going down with an apparent lower leg injury and didn’t return.
The 7-footer came up grimacing and did not put any weight on his right leg as he was immediately taken to the tunnel by trainers.
“Tomorrow he’ll get reevaluated,” Stackouse said. “He had a lower leg injury… we’ll get more results tomorrow."
Since returning to the lineup in Vanderbilt’s blowout loss to Alabama, Robbins led Vanderbilt in scoring in six of its next seven games while averaging 22 points per game.
In that time the Commodores’ went on a five-game winning streak.
In Wright’s eyes the key to that streak was clear.
“Getting the ball to Liam Robbins. He’s been playing like the best player in the country these past couple games,” Wright said.
For the second time this year, it looks as if Vanderbilt has lost its best player and anchor.
In the previous four games without the 7-footer, Vanderbilt went just 1-3 and struggled to generate offense from inside the arc without its go-to scorer.
The Commodores also missed Robbins’ rim protection, dearly.
As Stackhouse prepares for the final stretch of his fourth-season, it looks as if he may have to prepare for life without his best player once again.
Wright was unbelievable
After scoring in double figures just twice in Vanderbilt’s successful month of February and playing just five minutes in Saturday afternoon’s win over Florida, it felt like Wright was back to form on Wednesday night.
The veteran wing eclipsed double digits in the first half of Wednesday’s game and finished with a season-high 23 points and the game winner.
Wright’s performance went beyond numbers, though. It felt like the 6-foot-4 wing had a level of confidence and intensity that had been missing for much of conference play.
That was evidenced by Wright’s side-step 3 that put Vanderbilt up 64-58 with just over four minutes to go. It didn’t end there, though.
When Vanderbilt fell behind with just a few seconds to play, it was Wright who took over in the final two possessions to get Vanderbilt its first win over Kentucky in the senior’s career.
If Vanderbilt is going to make any noise in postseason play without Robbins, guys like Wright will have to step up. If tonight is any indication, there is reason to believe that may be the case.
There aren’t enough good things to say about Wright’s outing on Wednesday night. The Vanderbilt wing was confident, gutsy and resilient.
Vanderbilt doesn’t win this game without the things Wright gave it.
