NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ Only six days earlier, No. 1 Tennessee came to Memorial Gym and needed overtime and a controversial hook-and-hold call to defeat Vanderbilt.
But on Tuesday night, Kentucky humiliated Vanderbilt, 87-52. It was the biggest margin of victory for UK here since the 1996 national champions beat the Commodores by 39 points (110-81) on Feb. 7, 1996.
Kentucky's wary words from earlier in the week quickly faded to irrelevance. Associate coach Kenny Payne talked about a "hostile environment" and Vandy as "a team very desperate that is capable of beating us."
Vanderbilt, which lost an eighth straight game, spoke optimistically before the game.
"I don't think losing defines us right now ..." coach Bryce Drew had said. "I've been really encouraged by this group. There's no defeat in them."
Freshman Aaron Nesmith declared of Kentucky, "We can hang with them and beat them."
Not a chance this night. Not even close.
Kentucky, which improved to 17-3 overall and 6-1 in the Southeastern Conference, outscored the Commodores 23-1 to close the first half. That came on the heels of Oklahoma putting a 19-0 run on Vandy last weekend.
PJ Washington led the Cats with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Roommates Tyler Herro and Keldon Johnson added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Vanderbilt, which hasn't won a game since December, fell to 9-11 overall and 0-7 in the SEC.
If it had been a boxing match, Vandy's manager would have thrown in the towel at halftime. Kentucky led 45-15. The previous low first-half point total for a UK opponent this season was the 22 scored by Monmouth.
Vandy had no baskets in the final 8:02 of the half, one in the final 10:55 and two in the final 13:50.
The Commodores had almost three times as many turnovers (14) as baskets (five). That fueled a 16-0 advantage for Kentucky in points off turnovers.
While numbers can be an incomplete measurement of play, that did not seem the case in the first half.
The opening 20 minutes were as ugly or enjoyable (depending on your rooting interest) as the numbers suggested. Kentucky, which faced little resistance, had 11 assists and one turnover. Vandy, which faced a lot of resistance, had two assists and 14 turnovers.
Washington had a double-double at halftime. He scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, putting him on pace for the seemingly unreachable standard set by Kentucky coach John Calipari: 35 points and 20 rebounds.
Kentucky pummeled Vanderbilt without leading scorer Johnson nor primary post scorer Reid Travis scoring before the break.
Each scored early in the second half: a three-pointer by Johnson with 19:21 left and a free throw by Travis at the 16:07 mark. Each put UK ahead by 33.
Midway through the second half, Kentucky's lead had ballooned to 70-32. It was impossible to know how many UK fans had called it a night and gone to bed. But a noticeable number of Vandy fans had departed Memorial Gym by the third television timeout.
Nick Richards punctuated the blowout by dunking two lob passes in the final minute.
Those dunks, which capped a season-high 14 points for Richards, came as the UK fans in attendance chanted C-A-T-S, Cats, Cats, Cats.
