The Kentucky Wildcats have a slight bye week coming up as they have a week off until they make the trip to Nashville next Saturday.

Their opponent? The Vanderbilt Commodores.

However, this is not the Vandy team we have become accustomed to seeing over the last several years, as the Commodores sit at 15-3 on the season. Memorial Gymnasium will also be rocking after the Dores knocked off the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers Saturday afternoon, 76-75.

Although they almost gave the game away, Chaz Lanier of the Vols missed a game-tying free throw that secured the upset for Vandy.

Memorial is always a unique place to play, and will be the first time this staff has coached a game in the one of a kind setup. Will the Cats respond after a tough loss to Alabama?

One thing is for sure: Vandy and their fans will be ready for the chance to knock off another top-25 team.

Kentucky basketball had another top 15 matchup in Rupp Arena, this time against #4 Alabama, and while the Wildcats hung around, the final minutes were the story of how Alabama ultimately came away with the win. Fueled by sloppy play by Kentucky late and a ton free throws from Alabama, the Crimson Tide where able to go on a 9-0 run in the final few minutes to help them get the 102-97 win.

Mark Pope talked with media after the game, where he said Kentucky left ‘so much’ on the table in their loss, and in a game of runs, the Wildcats came up short in multiple areas, and they all point to some slippage in play in the second half.

“We left so much on the table. There is so much room for us to grow. There is so many spaces where we can get better. In particular, playing this style of game. That’s going to be the nature of the season. You know, we played our first five games in the league are against all teams in the top 25 right now. It’s the nature of this league right now. …The first five minutes transition was an issue. The rest of the game, the offensive glass was an issue. We gave up 15 offensive rebounds and that’s really, really tough. We let them shoot 39% from the three point line. That’s really tough. We sent them to the free-throw line 40 times. When you do those things it makes him a really tough package to get a win, right? That’s like the trifecta right now and the answers are those three things. We have to continue our work on the glass. …It felt like we were a little bit late to balls. I don’t think we won the 50-50 ballgame. …Those three things lead to you giving up 102 points at home, right? Those are areas where if we are going to play well and if we are going to win in really really really high-level games. We have to be better in those areas. We can’t bail teams out with fouls. We gotta handle teams in transition and we gotta keep them off the glass. We clearly have to guard the three-point line a little better. Those are things we’ve done. There’s things we are making progress at. Today was a significant misstep for us for sure.”

– Pope on Kentucky’s struggles vs Alabama.

As Pope noted, Kentucky gave up 15 offensive rebounds, much of those in the second half. Alabama also shot a wild 29-34 from the line, which is 14 more attempts than Kentucky had. The Crimson Tide also shot 13-34 from three, showing their volume of shots. Those areas were essentially the makeup of Kentucky’s game. The Wildcats needed stops in the high-scoring game, but those areas costed them late in the game.

The Wildcats get a week off in-between games, so they’ll look to focus on themselves and improve in different areas, but most importantly, getting Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr, who have been playing banged up, healthy before hitting the road to Vanderbilt next Saturday.

The Kentucky basketball program has made a lot of history, and some of that history has included putting some elite players in the NBA. Despite all of the talent Kentucky has put in the NBA, they have not had an MVP in the league, but that could change this season.

Right now, on the Kia MVP Ladder, two Kentucky Wildcats are in the top five, with one of them being in the top spot. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is currently number one when it comes to the ladder, and he has a real shot of being Kentucky’s first MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.6 points per game, which is first in the NBA. He is also averaging 5.4 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. On top of his great numbers, the Thunder are also 34-7 on the year, thanks to the outstanding play of Gilgeous-Alexander.

Karl-Anthony Towns is fourth on the Kia MVP Ladder, as he is averaging a double-double at 25.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game. Towns is 13th in the NBA in scoring and second in the NBA in rebounding. Towns is also shooting a whooping 44.9% from three, as he is the best shooting big in the league.

Towns likely doesn’t have a real shot to win MVP, but Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner at the moment and as long as he keeps playing like he has the former Wildcat should win MVP.

Kentucky basketball has so much history, yet it feels like having an NBA MVP winner is the last thing to cross off, and Gilgeous-Alexander could do just that this season.