Three Keys and a Prediction: Vanderbilt Basketball Vs. Kentucky

NASHVILLE---Time to get this thing rolling.

This isn’t perfect–it’s almost assuredly not going to get Frankie Collins and Mason Nicholson back–but it’s as close as this group has been since the start of the new year. Everyone has a defined, fitting role. Miles is healthy and not fighting through significant pain. Tanner appears to be over his sickness and back to his normal self. Vanderbilt is coming off of a win, too.

It's almost now or never for this team to turn the corner.

“Now that we kind of have our guys, when we was at our peak, back it feels good,” Vanderbilt wing Tyler Nickel toldVandy on SI.“I mean, just the more that we play together again and get our rhythm back and everything. We kind of got our rhythm back a little bit today, but it's just going to get better and better from here on now.”

Here's three keys to a Vanderbilt win over Kentucky and a prediction.

Keep the chip

Mark Byington’s pregame speech from Vanderbilt’s last matchup against Kentucky still appears to apply here. The Vanderbilt coach reminded his team that Kentucky didn’t think any of his players were good enough to play for it out of high school and said that they should take that to heart.

It appeared as if they did as they coasted to a blowout win.

“Seeing ourselves as underdogs and people doubting us, it gives us kind of more of a fire and a fuel,” Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner told Vandy on SI after the game. “We just want to win so bad. When we want to win that bad and we stay together, we're a really hard team to stop.”

In reality, even without Duke Miles, Vanderbilt favored. Don’t tell it that, though. It appeared to have a chip on its shoulder because of the price of Kentucky’s roster and the pedigree that the Wildcats came in with.

Vanderbilt even had something to say when it was all said and done.

“I think to an extent, we all got a chip,” Nickel told Vandy on SI. “But I think to be at this level, to be successful, you have to have a chip one way or another.  So, kind of given a lot of our experiences, there's definitely a chip on our shoulder.”

Don’t let this be a transition game

Kentucky wants to get easy baskets in transition and it’s up to Vanderbilt not to let it. It’s worth noting that Kentucky hasn’t been able to push the pace near as much as it did a season ago, when it was more successful.

Vanderbilt is good when it runs, but it’s significantly better than Kentucky is in the halfcourt. That could–and should–be the difference on Saturday, but Vanderbilt can’t let this turn into a track meet.

If it doesn’t, it's got a chance to win significantly again.

Change the game with turnovers

Kentucky is No. 14 in the SEC in offensive turnover percentage and appears to be susceptible to some mistakes as a result of Vanderbilt’s ball pressure with Miles and Tanner.

The one gaping hole in this expensive Kentucky roster is its lack of a true point guard. Denzel Aberdeen has been solid enough in terms of ball security, but this group as a whole can lose a game because of its turnover proneness.

Vanderbilt appears to have enough to force a few and avoid doing the same.

Prediction: Vanderbilt: 83, Kentucky: 72

It’s bold to say that Vanderbilt basketball will ever win at Rupp Arena, but the set up appears to be favorable here. Is this the day this group really gets it rolling down the stretch.