Another Kentucky basketball dud in Nashville. Cats suffer 25-point loss at Vanderbilt.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kentucky’s five-game winning streak is over. And it ended in unceremonious fashion.

Mark Pope’s Wildcats were run out of Memorial Gymnasium almost immediately Tuesday night, getting off to a terrible start on both ends of the court and ultimately losing 80-55 to No. 18 Vanderbilt.

The Cats trailed by double digits for the final 30 minutes of the game. They were down 20 points at halftime and fell behind by as many as 28 points in the second half.

The closest UK got to Vanderbilt after halftime? A 48-31 deficit. It was a very bad night for the Wildcats.

Otega Oweh had 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. He was 7 for 19 from the floor. Denzel Aberdeen added 15 points for the Cats. No other UK player scored more than five points.

Kentucky shot 19 for 59 from the floor and 6 for 24 from 3-point range. Vandy was just 25 of 62 (40.3%) from the floor, but the Commodores made 10 of 25 3-point attempts. They also outscored UK 20-11 at the foul line.

Vanderbilt sophomore Tyler Tanner, who has emerged as one of the best players in the SEC this season, led the Commodores with 19 points, five assists and four steals. Tyler Nickel also had 19 points for the Dores.

The Cats fell to 14-7 on the season and 5-3 in SEC play. Vandy is now 18-3 and 5-3 in the league.

In a season filled with pitiful starts, the Wildcats had one of their worst Tuesday night.

Kentucky fell behind 7-0 in the opening minutes, missing its first seven shots from the field — and its first two free throws — before Collin Chandler finally put the Cats on the board with a pair of free throws with 16:09 left in the first half. They were 0 for 9 from the field when Aberdeen slammed home a transition dunk with 15:24 left in the half for UK’s first bucket of the night.

The Cats fell behind 15-4 — their fifth double-digit deficit in eight SEC games so far — before Aberdeen hit a 3-pointer for Kentucky’s second basket with 12:51 remaining. Vanderbilt answered with a 3 of its own on the next possession, and Kentucky ultimately missed 17 of its first 20 shots from the field. Aberdeen was responsible for all three makes in that stretch.

Malachi Moreno scored with 8:02 left in the half — cutting Vandy’s lead to 26-12 — to become the first UK player other than Aberdeen to make a shot. Oweh missed his first six attempts from the floor before getting a steal and transition dunk with 6:34 left in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Commodores caught fire from long range.

Before Oweh’s first bucket, Nickel — the SEC’s top 3-point shooter — buried one from deep to give the Dores a 29-12 lead. A little later, Chandler Bing put Vanderbilt ahead 38-19 with a 3-pointer.

That lead grew to 22 points before the first half ended, and Kentucky went into the halftime locker room down 43-23. Vandy shot 7 for 14 from deep in the first half. UK was 2 for 11.

The Wildcats were also 9 for 32 (28.1%) from the field and just 3 of 8 on free throws in the first half. They were outrebounded 27-16 in the opening period.

It was Kentucky’s second-largest halftime deficit of the season. The only one that was worse also came in Nashville, where Gonzaga led UK 43-20 at the break in what was ultimately a 94-59 loss for the Wildcats in Bridgestone Arena.

In 14 games against high-major competition this season, Kentucky has led at the half just twice.

Both teams were playing shorthanded Tuesday night.

Sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance missed his sixth consecutive game due to issues related to his surgically repaired knee. Quaintance did travel with the team to Nashville, but he did not take part in any of the team’s pregame warmups.

The Cats played their second game without sophomore guard Kam Williams, who suffered a broken foot in last week’s win over Texas and had surgery for that injury Friday. And junior point guard Jaland Lowe has already been ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury.

Vanderbilt was missing senior guard Duke Miles, who was ruled out a couple of hours before tipoff with an injury. Miles is the team’s second-leading scorer with 16.6 points per game, and he’s also second on the team with 4.3 assists per game. His SEC-high 2.8 steals per game led all of high-major college basketball heading into the week.

The Commodores have also been playing without senior guard Frankie Collins, who was an integral player off the bench early in the season but has been sidelined since last month with an injury.

Vanderbilt went into Tuesday’s game at No. 9 nationally in the Torvik ratings, making the Dores the top-ranked team in the SEC. That website also had them rated No. 9 nationally in offensive efficiency and No. 19 in the country in defensive efficiency.

Kentucky was No. 40 nationally in the Torvik ratings at tipoff.

Next up for the Wildcats will be a trip to Arkansas for a matchup with John Calipari’s No. 15-ranked Razorbacks, who won 83-79 at Oklahoma on Tuesday night.

The Hogs (16-5, 6-2) are the top SEC team in the AP Top 25 this week, and this weekend’s visit to Fayetteville will be the first time the Cats have faced Calipari at Bud Walton Arena since the former UK coach left Lexington after the 2023-24 season. The Razorbacks beat the Wildcats 89-79 in Lexington last year.

The Kentucky-Arkansas game is set for 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN.

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