Vanderbilt surges into NCAA Tournament debate by beating Kentucky

Vanderbilt has come back from an 0-3 start to SEC play in January to within one game of the conference lead heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Commodores earned their second win over a ranked opponent on Saturday and an even more significant victory symbolically by beating perennial power No. 16 Kentucky 74-62 at home and watching fans storm the court at the end.

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The win certainly won’t cement the Commodores in the NCAA Tournament because they still have a shaky resume and need to finish the regular season with at least a victory over Tennessee and maybe a second win this season against Texas A&M. Get at least one win in those two games and win a game or two in the SEC tournament and Vanderbilt might be able ti sneak into the NCAA bracket as one of the final power conference schools in.

At this point, the only sure thing for coach Kevin Stallings’ team is that it still has work to do. But it’s a team that is playing its best basketball at the right time of year and would be on a six-game winning streak if not for a one-point loss on a buzzer beater from Mississippi State.

While Vanderbilt ism’t in the NCAA Tournament yet by most calculations, it has the look of a team that should be a part of March Madness. The Commodores are one of the top-three shooting teams in the conference as well as one of the best defensive teams in the SEC.

[Texas takes advantage of Oklahoma drought for best win of season]

They had trouble handling Kentucky freshman Jamal Murray in the first half on Saturday. Murray scored 21 points in the half, the most by any Kentucky player in a half this season. He scored 12 more in the second half to finish with 33 on 12-for-20 shooting. But the other eight Wildcats who played significant minutes in the game combined to score only 29 points, including an dreadful shooting performance from point guard Tyler Ulis, who went 5-for-20, including 0-for-7 behind the 3-point line.

Vanderbilt got all but one point from its five starters, including a team-high 20 points from sophomore Matthew Fisher-Davis. Fellow sophomore Jeff Roberson added 16 points and eight rebounds.

Kentucky failed to score in the final 3 minutes, 47 seconds and missed nine consecutive shots to close the game. The Wildcats have lost two of the past three games.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo