NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points, and the 12th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats rallied from their biggest halftime deficit of the season to beat Vanderbilt 78-64 on Tuesday night.
With the victory, Kentucky (19-5, 9-2 SEC) kept a piece of the lead atop the conference standings with Auburn and LSU. The Wildcats also won their eighth consecutive over Vanderbilt, though this was the fifth time in the streak that they've had to rally from a double-digit deficit. They trailed by as much as 14 points in the first half Tuesday and were down 36-27 at halftime.
Immanuel Quickley also had 18 points, Nick Richards had 12 and Ashton Hagans finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in Coach John Calipari's 400th career game at Kentucky.
Vanderbilt (9-15, 1-10) was looking to make Kentucky the second consecutive ranked team to come into Memorial Gym and lose within the past week after the Commodores upset then-No. 18 LSU.
Saben Lee led Vanderbilt with 20 points. Dylan Disu had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Scotty Pippen Jr. had 13 and Maxwell Evans 10.
Kentucky looked like a different team in the second half. The Wildcats finally took their first lead on a Maxey layup with 11:16 left at 48-46 during a 24-4 run. Richards' dunk capped the spurt with Kentucky up 59-48 with 6:11 to go.
The Commodores pulled within 62-57 with 4:17 left after Jordan Wright stole the ball on the inbound play. Quickley answered with consecutive three-pointers to push Kentucky's lead back to double digits.
Vanderbilt ranks fourth in the SEC shooting (33%) from three-point range, and the Commodores opened with Pippen hitting a three to put the Commodores ahead. Four others made at least one three-pointer as Vanderbilt shot better outside the arc than Kentucky from the floor.
Lee hit Vanderbilt's eighth three-pointer of the half to put the Commodores up 34-20, and he added two free throws with 3:51 to match that 14-point lead.
Vanderbilt then went cold and didn't score again the rest of the half. Kentucky wasn't much better. Maxey's jumper with 3:12 to go the Wildcats' last field goal of the half, but Quickley made three free throws with 35.4 seconds left for the nine-point halftime deficit that was Kentucky's largest this season.
NO. 6 DAYTON 81,
RHODE ISLAND 67
DAYTON, Ohio -- Obi Toppin scored 22 points and led an opening 17-point spurt as No. 6 Dayton surged over Rhode Island, dominating a match-up between the Atlantic 10's top teams.
Both teams brought double-digit winning streaks into a chippy game that included seven technical fouls. Dayton (22-2, 11-0) got the better of it in every way, winning its 13th in a row.
Dayton's Jalen Crutcher scored 21 points, and Trey Landers matched his career high with 14 rebounds.
Fatts Russell had 19 points for Rhode Island (18-6, 10-2), which had a 10-game winning streak snapped.
NO. 9 MARYLAND 72, NEBRASKA 70
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Jalen Smith had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Eric Ayala scored 16 points and Maryland extended its winning streak to seven games and remained alone atop the Big Ten.
After the Terrapins (20-4, 10-3) let a 14-point lead dwindle to 71-70, Smith blocked a shot in the waning seconds and made a free throw on the other end to clinch it.
Haanif Cheatham scored 20 and Thorir Thorbjarnarson added 15 for Nebraska (7-17, 2-11).
NO. 13 PENN STATE 88, PURDUE 76
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Mike Watkins matched his season high with 19 points and Seth Lundy added a career-high 18 to lift Penn State over Purdue.
The Nittany Lions (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten) made a season-high 14 three-pointers for their seventh consecutive victory that also snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series. It was Penn State's first win at Mackey Arena since Feb. 18, 2006.
Trevion Williams finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Purdue (14-11, 7-7), which had its three-game winning streak end.
MICHIGAN STATE 70,
NO. 22 ILLINOIS 69
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Star guard Ayo Dosunmu crumbled to the floor clutching his left knee as Michigan State's Xavier Tillman threw down a huge dunk at the buzzer that lifted the Spartans over the Illini.
The severity of Dosunmu's injury wasn't immediately made available. The Illini's leading scorer had 17 points Tuesday and is averaging 15.8 per game.
Rocket Watts led the Spartans (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) with 21 points, and Tillman had 17. Aaron Henry and Cassius Winston added 13 and 12, respectively.
Andres Feliz scored 15 points and Kofi Cockburn added 11 for Illinois (16-8, 8-5).
NO. 25 LSU 82, MISSOURI 78
BATON ROUGE -- Darius Days scored seven of his 20 points in the final five minutes as LSU rallied to beat Missouri.
LSU (18-6, 9-2 SEC) trailed by eight points midway through the second half before taking the lead for good at 72-69 on Days' three-pointer with 4:43 remaining. Missouri (11-13, 3-8) stayed close over the final minutes.
SEC
OLE MISS 83,
MISSISSIPPI STate 58
OXFORD, Miss. -- Breein Tyree scored a career-high 40 points, 27 coming in the second half, and Mississippi defeated Mississippi State, extended the Rebsls' winning streak to three games.
Tyree finished 13 of 22 from the field, 4 of 10 from three-point range, 10 of 11 from the free-throw line and added 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Ole Miss outscored the Bulldogs 70-32 after the opening 13 minutes, 50-24 in the second half.
Khadim Sy scored 18 points with a team-high eight rebounds for Ole Miss (13-11, 4-7 SEC). Devontae Shuler, scoreless in the opening 19 minutes, added 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Reggie Perry led Mississippi State (15-9, 6-5) with 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds. D.J. Stewart Jr. and Robert Woodard II added 16 and 12 points, respectively. The Bulldogs struggled from the field, 18 of 49 (36%), which included an 8 of 15 performance from Perry.
Ole Miss shot 28 of 58 (48%) from the field, 23 of 41 during the 70-32 blowout over the final 27 minutes.
Sports on 02/12/2020