'It's Gonna Be a Fight All Night.' Vanderbilt Ready for SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Against Kentucky

The Commodores defeated the Wildcats just nine days ago. They'll look to repeat history on Friday night in Nashville.

NASHVILLE — Kentucky and Vanderbilt will do battle in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament for the second season in a row. 

Only this time, the stakes will be higher. Much higher. 

When the two played last March in Tampa, Fla., the Wildcats snuck out with a 77-71 win, but the fates of both teams were already decided. The Commodores were there to finish off another poor season, while UK knew it was going to claim one of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Tournament. 

On Friday, coach Jerry Stackhouse's squad will enter on a mission to try and swipe a bid into March Madness, fresh off a 77-68 win over LSU on Thursday. Coach John Calipari's team is trying to up its seed in the Big Dance, needing a win or two in Nashville to stay away from the No. 7-8 seed line. 

"We're both going to be prepared. We played each other a number of times over the years. We kind of know some of what they're going to do. They know what we're going to do. It's going to be a battle of competitors. Guys got to come out and perform," Stackhouse said.

According to Joe Lunardi, Vandy is still among the next four teams out of the NCAA Tournament. The Dores know that, and while a rubber match win over Kentucky would do wonders for a tourney résumé, their looking for more than just one more victory. 

"Our goal here is to win the tournament," Vandy's Jordan Wright said. "We had a great game against (Kentucky). They beat us at our place, we beat them at their place. So, it's kind of like a rubber match. Third game, tiebreaker for us, so we're going to come out, play hard and play our game." 

Wright was a hero just nine days ago, getting a fallaway jumper from midrange to drop with just 2.6 seconds left in the Dores' 68-66 stunner over UK inside Rupp Arena in Lexington. 

Not only did that game avenge a 69-53 defeat to the Cats in Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville on Jan. 24, it also continued Vanderbilt's hot streak to end the season, as it won eight of its final nine games in the regular season. It was also Kentucky's first home loss to VU since 2007. 

"It was huge. It was great to get that win there. Especially (since) we hadn't won there in I don't know how long, so it felt great," Wright said about the victory in Lexington. "It felt great to get that win, kind of a morale booster for us and keep our hopes alive for the NCAA tournament."

"It was really big for us, because it gave us the momentum coming into this tournament," forward Quentin Millora-Brown added. "You know, before that we had a really good February and we needed to close it out well, and really just set the tone coming into the SEC tournament." 

Millora-Brown had 10 points and six rebounds in the win, playing extra minutes for star forward Liam Robbins, who went down early in the game with an injury. Robbins' season is over, meaning his counterpart will have to handle the heavy workload in the paint, primarily defending Oscar Tshiebwe. 

"It's gonna be a fight all night. Really, (Tshiebwe) has a lot of little things that he does, and just being prepared for that on the offensive boards. Making sure I box out and just being ready," he said. "It's gonna be a battle all night, fighting on the glass, in transition. Like, everything just got to really be on — all over the little details."

Despite the loss in Rupp, Tshiebwe still had 21 points and 20 rebounds. Kentucky shot just 32.2 percent from the floor and made just three of 19 3-point attempts. Wright and Vandy guard Tyrin Lawrence combined for 44 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

"They're gonna come out and know our sets, we're gonna come out and know their sets, so, the best man's gonna win," Wright said. "Whoever dominates the glass, whoever plays harder, whoever gets loose balls, 50-50 balls, those things matter in this game." 

"We know we have to compete, play well, pay attention to our game plan, execute our assignments on both ends of the floor to give ourselves the best chance to win," Stackhouse said. "If we do that, we feel like we can beat anybody." 

Kentucky will look for a second win over Vanderbilt in Nashville this season. Tipoff inside Bridgestone Arena is set for around 9 p.m. EST, with a spot in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on the line. 

More on Vanderbilt's SEC Tournament second round win HERE.

More on Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick HERE.

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