Kentucky's legendary Rupp Arena has been regarded as one of the most difficult environments for road teams in the country, but Vanderbilt has given the Wildcats fits in each of its last three visits.
Riding a six-game winning streak after their most recent 78-48 thrashing of Massachusetts, the Commodores tip off at Kentucky (11-4) tomorrow in both teams' Southeastern Conference openers. Vanderbilt has defeated the Wildcats in five of their last six meetings, most recently a 93-52 crushing at Memorial Gym in February that was one of the worst defeats in Kentucky's storied history.
The different look of both squads in 2009, however, leads coach Kevin Stallings to shrug off any chance of there being any carryover from the rout.
"It's just a new team and a new season and a new situation," Stallings said. "Very few of these guys know what it took beat Kentucky last season."
In Vanderbilt's last visit to Rupp, however, the Wildcats snapped the Commodores' 16-0 start to the season with a double overtime, 79-73 win to prevent Vanderbilt from being the first team ever to win in three consecutive visits to Lexington.
"I really don't know if words can do it justice," said sophomore A.J. Ogilvy of playing at Rupp. "It's one of those things you have to experience for yourself to know how tough it is.
What did Ogilvy tell the freshmen on the team who have never played in Lexington?
"Expect a big, loud crowd," he said. "Very hostile."
Kentucky will welcome a hostile Vanderbilt team, as well, that has seen its play dramatically improve since a lackluster 5-3 start.
Vanderbilt (11-3) held a dominant rebounding advantage and ripped off a 31-8 run to start the second half against the Minutemen in the easy victory. Ogilvy scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in just 22 minutes of play to lead four players who scored in double figures. Junior Jermaine Beal had 10 points to go along with six assists in another efficient performance from the dependable point guard.
Stallings felt encouraged by the offensive balance he saw heading into Lexington after Vanderbilt's second-half outburst in its first true road victory.
"The more guys that make perimeter shots the better our offense is going to flow because the less pressure there's going to be on our inside game," Stallings said. "It's just kind of the nature of basketball. If we do a decent job of shooting from the perimeter we'll have more space to work inside."
The play of the young team's defense has been particularly impressive. During their winning streak, the Commodores have not allowed an opponent to shoot better than 38 percent from the field and have seen their rebounding dramatically improve as well.
Those aspects of Vanderbilt's game will be critical if the team expects to stop talented junior guard Jodie Meeks, averaging 24.4 points per game to lead the SEC, and sophomore Patrick Patterson, one of the conference's best frontcourt players.
"We'll be tested this weekend," Stallings said. "We'll see if we really made progress or not because getting rebounds against UMass is one thing, getting rebounds against Kentucky is another."
"It's definitely been more of a mindset going in there during games," Ogilvy said. "I think we're ready for them."
