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Kentucky Wildcats fall to Vanderbilt 64-48 in SEC tournament quarterfinals

Vanderbilt put a serious dent in the Kentucky Wildcats’ hopes of at least having a chance to defend their national title.

Ryan Harrow - photo by John Bazemore | AP

Ryan Harrow – photo by John Bazemore | AP

Dai-Jon Parker scored 12 points, and the Commodores beat the Wildcats 64-48 Friday night in a rematch of last year’s Southeastern Conference tournament championship and put a serious dent in the Wildcats’ hopes of at least having a chance to defend their national title.

Kentucky (21-11) came in as a bubble team projected possibly as a play-in candidate after coach sent six players to the NBA last summer and tried reloading yet again with another top recruiting class. But Nerlens Noel had surgery earlier this week to fix his torn ACL, and the Wildcats couldn’t match the intensity of the Commodores.

Kevin Bright scored 11 points, Kedren Johnson and Kyle Fuller had 10 apiece. Vanderbilt (16-16) shot 50 percent overall, hitting 8 of 17 3-pointers.

led Kentucky with 12 points, and had 10. Ryan Harrow was 2 of 15 for four points.

Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter’s Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.

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