Kentucky @ Vanderbilt preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2019 ) Vanderbilt 47, Kentucky 56

Kentucky is starting to get it together with defense taking center stage as it vies for a season sweep of Vanderbilt on Tuesday in an SEC game in Nashville, Tenn. The No. 6 Wildcats are coming off a 71-63 victory over No. 12 Kansas on Saturday for their sixth straight win and are yielding only 61.3 points per game during that span after permitting an average of 70.0 in the first 13 contests.

“I’d say the biggest change as far as us maturing is just our enthusiasm for defense,” Kentucky senior forward Reid Travis told reporters. “We’re starting to celebrate stops. We’re starting to celebrate guys trying to shut down guys and things like that. ...'' The Commodores nearly upset No. 1 Tennessee on Wednesday but fell 88-83 in overtime before extending their losing streak to seven with an 86-55 setback at Oklahoma on Saturday. “You always fear after an emotional game how your team is going to respond,” Vanderbilt Bryce Drew told reporters. “For the first 10 to 12 minutes (against Oklahoma), I thought we responded well. After that, we couldn’t guard them one-on-one and couldn’t hang on to the ball enough to keep it close.” The Wildcats won the first meeting 56-47 on Jan. 12 with freshman guards Ashton Hagans and Keldon Johnson leading the comeback victory with 15 points apiece as the teams combined to shoot 11-for-41 from 3-point range.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT KENTUCKY (16-3, 5-1 SEC): Johnson (team-high 14.6 points, 5.3 rebounds) won his third SEC Freshmen of the Week honor after averaging 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds versus Kansas and No. 21 Mississippi State, including his third double-double of the season with 15 and 10 on Saturday. Sophomore forward PJ Washington (12.7 points, club-most 8.1 rebounds) scored 21 points versus Mississippi State and 20 against Kansas - totaling 20 or more in back-to-back games for the first time in his career - while grabbing 13 boards Saturday. Travis (12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds) recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds versus Kansas - the first time since John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson in 2009-10 that the Wildcats have had three players register a double-double in a game.

ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-10, 0-6): Sophomore guard Saben Lee averages a team-best 13.4 points after scoring 24 versus Oklahoma and 21 against Tennessee while averaging six rebounds and five assists in those games. Freshman forward Aaron Nesmith (9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds) leads the team at 14.3 points in SEC games, including a career-high 24 versus Tennessee. Forward Simisola Shittu (13.1 points, club-most 7.3 boards) paces SEC freshmen in rebounding but has averaged only 4.6 over his last five contests.

TIP-INS

1. The Wildcats are allowing 67.3 points per game with only Florida (61.5) and Missouri (66.7) yielding fewer among SEC teams.

2. The Commodores are one of three schools (Princeton, UNLV) to have made a 3-point basket in every game since the inception of the shot in 1986-87.

3. Kentucky freshman G Tyler Herro (13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 91.1 percent free throws) leads the team at 14.6 points per conference game.

PREDICTION: Kentucky 74, Vanderbilt 67