Davion Mintz has 21 points, No. 5 Kentucky beats Vanderbilt

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Kentucky had to fight for everything it got against Vanderbilt, and Davion Mintz helped deal the biggest blow for the No. 5 Wildcats.

Mintz scored a season-high 21 points off the bench, hitting a 3-pointer during a pivotal 11-2 run, and Kentucky overcame nearly blowing a double-digit lead and its cool to survive Vanderbilt 77-70 on Wednesday night for its third consecutive victory.

After having it surprisingly easy on Saturday at then-No. 5 Kansas, Mintz wasn’t shocked by the battle it got from Vanderbilt. Even affable forward Oscar Tshiebwe got caught in the moment, drawing two flagrant fouls among four.

"When teams come in here, they want to play hard," said Mintz, who hinted at having scratches on his arm going for a rebound. "The SEC is a competitive conference and Vanderbilt came to fight and so does every other team we play in this conference."

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Kentucky's Davion Mintz (10) shoots while defended by Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

The Wildcats (18-4, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) twice led by 10 in the second half, but the Commodores eventually closed to 56-53 with 9:28 remaining. Keion Brooks Jr. answered with a jumper, Lance Ware made a free throw and Mintz took Sahvir Wheeler’s baseline pass to make a wide-open 3 from the right corner for a 62-53 advantage with 7:23 remaining.

Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (17 rebounds, 11 points) followed Scotty Pippen Jr.'s basket with three free throws before TyTy Washington Jr.’s jumper off made it 69-57. Mintz added two free