College Basketball Power 10: Big 12 Continues To Dominate
By Jeremy Karll
6. Kentucky (15-2)
It was not a cake walk for the Kentucky Wildcats this week. They beat Vanderbilt by six and Auburn by 20, but they didn’t put them away early like many expect from them every time they take the court against an SEC foe.
Traveling to Vanderbilt has been Kentucky’s Achilles heel in the past, as Kentucky is just 5-2 with two two-point wins at Vanderbilt under John Calipari. It almost happened again with Kentucky only leading by four at halftime and Vanderbilt taking a 53-51 lead with 16:54 left in the game.
That said, led by a combined 45 points from Isaiah Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky held Vanderbilt off just long enough to win 87-81.
Due to their struggles in the past on the road against Vanderbilt, it’s not a huge surprise that Kentucky didn’t win by 20-plus, but it’s still somewhat of a surprise considering how much better Kentucky is compared to the rest of the SEC.
Kentucky showed more of their killer instinct against Auburn as they won 92-72, although they did let Auburn get within four with 12:33 left.
It’s the same thing every week for Kentucky. They’re a really good offensive team but everyone is waiting to watch them play a respectable opponent and see if their defense has gotten better.
Kentucky travels to Mississippi State and then hosts a ranked South Carolina team.