Facing its first test of the postseason, Kentucky held on to beat a pesky Vanderbilt Commodores team 77-71 on Friday night at the SEC Tournament at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Vanderbilt, the No. 11 seed, gave Kentucky all it wanted in the first half before the Wildcats pulled away late behind the hot shooting of TyTy Washington and a high energy performance off the bench from Jacob Toppin to survive and advance.
Washington led the Wildcats with 25 points and hit key free throws in the final minute to help the Wildcats improve to 26-6 on the season.