Game notes from UK’s 85-72 win over Vanderbilt

- UK’s 85-72 win over Vanderbilt improved their record to 20-1 and 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Cats will play Ole Miss at Rupp Arena on Tuesday.

- UK’s win snapped a 10-game winning streak by Vanderbilt.

- Sophomore guard Darnell Dodson started in place of Eric Bledsoe. UK head coach John Calipari wouldn’t give a specific reason for the move, simply saying he has the power to start Dodson because he’s the coach. It was Dodson’s first start since the season opener against Morehead State.

- UK took the lead with 19:02 to go in the first half and never surrendered it again.

- UK led by double digits from the 12:43 mark in the first half on.

- UK’s biggest lead was 19 points.

- The game, as has become almost the norm at Rupp Arena, also had a special visitor sitting courtside opposite the UK bench. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, a friend of Calipari’s, was also in attendance to watch the Cats play.

“He’s a good friend and he’s a great guy, and he’s a great ambassador for basketball,” Calipari said. “Obviously we wear his shoe and all that stuff and he’s proud of this team and this group, but I mean it would have been better if he was an alum and had played here and came back to watch a game. Probably would have about four more national titles up there.”

- Sophomore guard DeAndre Liggins played a season-high 25 minutes. Liggins finished 2-4 from the field and 4-6 from the foul line. He scored nine points, had four rebounds and zero turnovers.

- Conversely, fellow sophomore guard Darius Miller tied a season-low with only eight minutes of playing time. Miller was 0-1 from the field (a 3-point field goal attempt), dished out two assists, one turnover and was called for three fouls.

- In only 24 minutes of play, Cousins scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Cousins also had two steals and one block.

- When Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings was whistled for a technical foul, Cousins immediately turned to Calipari and asked to shoot the free throws. He did and went 1-for-2 at the line.

- The win puts UK back into first place in the SEC. The Cats are tied with Vanderbilt at the top.

- Junior forward Patrick Patterson took a career high four 3-point attempts and hit a career high three of them. Patterson finished with a dozen points and four rebounds.

- Five UK players finished in double figures (Cousins, Dodson, Eric Bledsoe, John Wall and Patterson), and Liggins finished with nine points.

- After being outrebounded by a much smaller South Carolina team, UK dominated the boards against a good rebounding team in Vanderbilt. The Cats outrebounded them 41-22 and had 20 second chance points to their two.

- Wall barely missed a double-double with 13 points and nine assists. Wall also had a game-high seven turnovers.

- At halftime the Cats’ field goal percentage (60 percent) and 3-point percentage (58.3 percent) was higher than their free throw percentage (57.1 percent).

- 58 fouls and two technicals were called between the two teams.

- The Cats shot 60 percent in the first half and 31 percent in the second half.

- UK’s bench outscored Vanderbilt’s bench 23-13.

- Attendance was 24,339.