One win is a slump-buster.
Consecutive wins is momentum.
Kentucky’s 77-74 victory over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena wasn’t necessarily pretty. After all, the visiting Commodores entered 144th in the kenpom rankings. They had lost 34 of their last 37 SEC games, including a 19-point drubbing by Florida in Nashville last time out.
Still, if you’re Kentucky, a team that had bumbled and stumbled to a 1-6 start, that had lost three of those six games by three points or less, you celebrate each triumph. You were both relieved and overjoyed by last Saturday’s 78-73 double-overtime win at Mississippi State in the Cats’ SEC opener.
And you cheered Tuesday night when Davion Mintz’s three-pointer from the left corner with 47 seconds left went in the basket while Maxwell Evans’ last-second shot for Vanderbilt bounced on the rim not once, but twice, then a third time and out.
“We know that feeling,” said Mintz afterward of Vanderbilt’s last-second shot.
And even allowing for the competition, there were plenty of encouraging signs on Tuesday. The Cats committed just two turnovers in 40 minutes. They executed down the stretch, hitting key free throws. They got 24 points from Olivier Sarr. After his breakout 23-point night in Starkville, Dontaie Allen chipped in with 14 more. Devin Askew scored 11 points in 23 minutes, with no turnovers and three assists, including the perfect pass to Mintz for the catch-and-shoot three.
Perhaps overlooked, Jacob Toppin did an excellent job defending Vandy star Scotty Pippen Jr. “The reason we won the game is Jacob guarded Pippen,” UK Coach John Calipari said afterward.
And Kentucky accomplished the win without Terrence Clarke, still out with an injured ankle, and Keion Brooks, who is reportedly practicing on a limited basis but not quite ready to play. They also won despite the continuing struggles of what was considered to be their best freshman, Brandon Boston, who scored but six points.
It was the first time in nine games the Georgia native failed to hit double figures. Still, Boston hasn’t produced the dominant performance anticipated when he signed. And his cool, easy-going demeanor sometimes gives the mistaken impression he’s not always engaged.
It’s a false impression. His teammates insist Boston is one of the hardest-working Cats.
“BJ is always in the gym,” Mintz said Tuesday night. “That’s the part that people don’t see. . . . Eventually it pays off. It always pays off.”
“He’s working hard, working harder than anybody else,” Sarr said. “I know for him it’s just a matter of time.”
A brief episode of boos were directed Boston’s way at one point Tuesday, according to those inside Rupp. That’s both ridiculous and reprehensible. If you want to express your frustration, take Calipari up on his invitation to send it his way. He’s the head coach, making the big salary with all the fixings. He can take it.
“We need our fans to absolutely support BJ,” Calipari said. “I don’t know why anybody would just want to be nasty to anybody. If you want to be nasty, be nasty to me. It’s my fault. Don’t be nasty to him. I’m the one that put him in the game. So if you’re mad, just be mad at me.”
And don’t somehow pit Allen against Boston. When Calipari said in his postgame press conference that Allen needed to play better defense, fans on social media took that as a slap at the Pendleton County star from a coach who they perceive as favoring Boston. And the guess here is that Allen would tell you he is working to improve on the defensive end.
“Like I told (Dontaie) after (the game), ‘You had seven or eight breakdowns, nine, eight. Let’s just get it to four,” Calipari said. “And then keep making shots. Just keep making shots, kid. And the team laughed.”
They can laugh now. They’re winning. The trick is to keep on winning.
