NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On a night when the shots just weren’t falling for No. 2 Kentucky, John Wall still managed to deliver another tight win for the Wildcats.
Vanderbilt limited Kentucky to a season-worst 35.8 percent shooting, but two free throws and a clutch block by Wall in the final 20 seconds gave the Wildcats a 58-56 win over the 17th-ranked Commodores on Saturday night.
“He just fought his way,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Wall, who missed eight of his 11 shots and finished with 13 points. “That will to win, refuse to lose. You just do what you got to do.”
Kentucky (26-1, 11-1 SEC), which beat Vanderbilt 85-72 on Jan. 30, grabbed a two-game lead over the Commodores in the SEC East and dealt them their first home loss since Jan. 25, 2009.
It was Kentucky’s second close call in as many games after pulling out an 81-75 overtime win at Mississippi State on Tuesday.
Wall’s free throws with 20 seconds remaining gave the Wildcats a 57-53 lead, but John Jenkins answered with a three-pointer to pull Vanderbilt (20-6, 9-3) within a point.
Kentucky’s Eric Bledsoe missed a pair of free throws, but Wall bailed him out by blocking another three-point attempt by Jenkins on the other end and grabbing the ball.
“That shot was going in,” Jenkins said. “He bit, but I went up too fast. He made a good play.”
Wall made one of two free throws for a two-point lead with 2.5 seconds to play.
“Somebody steps up,” said Kentucky forward DeMarcus Cousins, who led the Wildcats with 19 points. “Maybe he doesn’t score 20-plus points, he still is going to make key plays down the stretch, which helps the team.”
Even still, the Commodores had one more chance.
A.J. Ogilvy caught a long in-bounds pass by Darshawn McClellan, but his runner in the lane bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
“I was really comfortable on that shot,” Ogilvy said. “I had a good look. I can make that shot eight of 10 (times). Unfortunately, today was one of the two that I missed.”
With that, Kentucky breathed another big sigh of relief, four days after edging the Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss.
The teams traded the lead 11 times and tied 14 times.
No. 1 KANSAS 94, COLORADO 74: Cole Aldrich had a double-double and Xavier Henry scored 24 points to lead the host Jayhawks (26-1, 12-0 Big 12) to a rout.
No. 7 KANSAS STATE 83, OKLAHOMA 68: Denis Clemente scored 27 points and led a three-point barrage by the Wildcats (22-4, 9-3 Big 12) in Norman, Okla.
No. 8 WEST VIRGINIA 75, SETON HALL 63: Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks scored 16 points apiece to pace the host Moutnaineers (21-5, 10-4 Big East).
No. 12 NEW MEXICO 59, AIR FORCE 56: Darrington Hobson scored 17 points, and Dairese Gary made two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining as the host Lobos (25-3, 11-2 Mountain West) avoided an upset.
No. 13 GONZAGA 72, PEPPERDINE 54: In Malibu, Calif., Matt Bouldin had 18 points and five assists as the Bulldogs (22-5, 10-2 West Coast Conference) bounced back from a rare conference loss.
No. 15 TEXAS 71, TEXAS TECH 67: Gary Johnson scored a career-high 22 points to lift the Longhorns (21-6, 7-5 Big 12) in Lubbock.
No. 16 BYU 85, WYOMING 63: Jimmer Fredette and freshman Tyler Haws both scored 22 points as the Cougars (25-3, 10-2 Mountain West Conference) rolled in Laramie, Wyo.
No. 20 TENNESSEE 63, SOUTH CAROLINA 55: In Columbia, S.C., Bobby Maze scored 14 points and the Volunteers (20-6, 8-4 SEC) reached the 20-victory mark for the fifth straight season.
No. 21 TEMPLE 75, SAINT JOSEPH’S 67, OT: In Philadelphia, Ramone Moore had 24 points and nine rebounds and Lavoy Allen notched his 10th double-double of the season for the visiting Owls (22-5, 10-2 Atlantic 10).
OKLAHOMA STATE 82, No. 22 BAYLOR 75: James Anderson matched his season high with 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to propel the host Cowboys (19-7, 7-5 Big 12). Tweety Carter scored 25 points for Baylor (20-6, 7-5).
NORTH CAROLINA STATE 68, No. 23 WAKE FOREST 54: Farnold Degand hit two three-pointers in the decisive second-half run for the host Wolfpack (15-13, 3-10 ACC).
Al-Farouq Aminu had 15 points for the Demon Deacons (18-7, 8-5).
No. 24 TEXAS A&M 60, IOWA STATE 56: In Ames, Iowa, Donald Sloan scored 14 points as the Aggies (19-7, 8-4 Big 12) won for the fifth time in six games.
No. 25 RICHMOND 74, GEORGE WASHINGTON 70: Kevin Anderson had 24 points, including a 15-foot jumper with 1:22 left to give the Spiders (22-6, 11-2 Atlantic 10) the victory at home.
