Streaking Vanderbilt Getting 9 1/2 Against Kentucky

Sports News - January 30th, 2010 - Written By John

There have certainly been better days for the Kentucky basketball program, but there have also certainly been worse.

In the span of about 72 hours, head coach John Calipari saw his team rise to the no. 1 ranking for the first time since 2004, received a call from President Obama thanking him for his Haiti relief efforts, and then witnessed his young team buckle under the pressure and become the first no. 1 team to lose to South Carolina ever.

And as the Wildcats brace for a drop in the next rankings, they attempt to salvage what they can in a conference match-up against red-hot Vanderbilt on Saturday.

"I don't know if I got intoxicated by us winning so much, if I lost my mind and got arrogant because they were playing so well and now I got a little arrogant because they were playing so well I could say some stuff I didn't need to say," Calipari said. "Hopefully we'll pull back here and figure all this out."

Kentucky can take comfort in the fact that it hasn't lost at home all year, and is a 9 1/2-point favorite in the college basketball betting lines, according to online sportsbooks. The over/under for the game is 154.

But it will have to clean up quickly to beat the Commodores, who have streaked to 10-straight wins and haven't lost in conference yet. Their most impressive win was this past Wednesday's drubbing of no. 14 Tennessee, 85-76.

Head coach Kevin Stallings has Vanderbilt in the mix for the top spot in the SEC, but sympathizes with Kentucky after a whirlwind week that clearly had it's young team unfocused.

"That was almost like a setup I think," Stallings said. "I'm not sure the president wasn't for South Carolina. I don't know how John could've possibly gotten them focused in on that game."

Part of the problem has been the fact that the Wildcats are so young, starting three freshman who have suddenly become en vogue. John Wall, projected to be the first overall pick in next summer's NBA Draft, is averaging 17.1 points per game and ended up with 19 against the Gamecocks. Problem was, as a team, Kentucky shot 39-percent and turned the ball over 15 times.

"I was like, 'What in the world," he said. "So for 24 hours it is devastating. I woke up the next day, and I said, thinking about how I dealt with it, 'This may have been good for me, forget them. Cool out. Coach your team. Get them better and start figuring out what you've got to do."

That won't fly against the Commodores, who have four players who are scoring in double-digits. They have reached 82 points in each of their last three games, winning by an average of nine.

Vanderbilt has covered the spread in six of it's last eight road games, and crushed Kentucky, 77-64, in the most recent meeting.

The home team has won five-straight, and the teams have alternated wins each game since 2007.