SEC Tournament 2012: Kentucky Will Survive Scare from Tough Vanderbilt Team

If you're not familiar with Vanderbilt, tomorrow's SEC tournament final will be a game you'll want to watch. Unfortunately, as good as Vandy is, they don't quite have the guns to take on Kentucky. 

Vanderbilt is certainly not a program that gets a lot of attention so you may not know this, but Vanderbilt creates a matchup problem with just about any team in the country. Guard John Jenkins and forward Jeffery Taylor give a nice inside/outside touch, and both men average better than 15 points a game. 

Very few teams have the ability to match those two when they're on their games. Unfortunately for the Commodores, Kentucky is one of the teams that does.

The only proof you need from that are the box scores of the first two games between two games.

	Jenkins Points	Taylor Points	Final Score
Feb. 11	15	13	Kentucky 69, Vanderbilt 63
Feb. 25	18	19	Kentucky 83, Vanderbilt 74

It wasn't exactly like the Wildcats shut those two down, especially in the second game. But ultimately, Kentucky just has too much talent for two players to contend with, even if they are kind of an ideal duo. 

That doesn't mean that it will be easy. No, Kentucky has been tested more than I would imagine they expected at the SEC tournament, and that is going to continue. 

Ultimately, Kentucky has one tremendous thing working in its favor. 

Anthony Davis is the best player in the country. Not only that, but with his length and particular skill set, it is basically impossible to go on an extended run against the Wildcats. With Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Michael Kidd-Glichrist to go along with Davis, Kentucky just has too many options to go with. 

They are the best team in the country, have the best player in the country and his skills allow for favorable matchup with anyone. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, that's going to be too overwhelming on Sunday. 

Still, Jenkins and Taylor will give Kentucky a strong contest. When the NCAA tournament rolls around, those two will take the Commodores further than their ranking will suggest they should go. 

Prediction: Kentucky 76, Vanderbilt 71

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