Web produced by: Bob WhiteWeb produced by: Jessica Noll Shan Foster scored 20 points and A.J. Ogilvy added 19 points and 12 rebounds, as 24th-ranked Vanderbilt held Kentucky to 11 first-half points, on the way to a 93-52 rout of the Wildcats.
Ross Neltner, a product of Highlands High School, tallied 15 points and eight rebounds for the Commodores (21-4, 6-4 SEC), who gained their biggest margin of victory in the all-time series with Kentucky.
Vanderbilt, which shot 55.4 percent from the field, while holding Kentucky to 32.7 percent, has won four in a row. The Commodores also got revenge for a 79-73 double-overtime loss at Kentucky on January 12.
"I think we surprised them with our effort and energy in the first half," Neltner said. "Our coaches were telling us about how they overwhelmed us at Rupp Arena earlier in the year and we wanted to do the same to them."
Ramel Bradley had 21 points for Kentucky (12-10, 6-3), which shot a woeful 3-of-15 in the first half. Joe Crawford chipped in 11 points and Patrick Patterson 10 for the Wildcats, who had a four-game winning streak snapped and suffered its worst loss in SEC history.
"I just couldn't believe that on offense we couldn't make a shot and on defense we couldn't get any stops," Bradley said. "That was embarrassing for our fans the way we represented the university."
It was the worst loss for the Wildcats since a 150-95 drubbing by Kansas on December 9, 1989 in Lawrence. This was also tied for the fifth-largest margin of defeat in the storied history of Kentucky basketball, equaling the 52-11 defeat to Rose Polytechnic on February 10, 1910.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Neltner and Foster moved the Commodores to a 15-3 lead, capping 12 consecutive Vanderbilt points.
It got worse for the Wildcats, as the Commodores expanded to a 39-8 cushion with 2:46 left in the half following a George Drake jumper.
Kentucky finally broke into double digits on the ensuing possession, a Crawford jumper, but the 41-11 margin at the half was stunning. Vanderbilt made 15-of-26 shots over the first 20 minutes.
"It wasn't comfortable throughout the game because we've been a team that has given up leads," Foster said. "Our focus was to stay aggressive throughout and play tough defense. We played great in the first half, especially on defense and that caused us to have such a large margin going into halftime."
The advantage reached 55-14 3:43 into the second half on a pair of free throws by Foster, and Vandy's margin reached as high as 43, the last time at 84-41 on Alan Metcalfe's jumper with 3:53 left.
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