Kentucky erases 19-point deficit to defeat Vanderbilt

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Malik Monk scored 20 points in the second half, including 10 in the final 3:40, as No. 9 Kentucky rallied from a 13-point deficit and held off Vanderbilt 73-67 on Tuesday night to clinch a share of the Southeastern Conference regular season title.

After trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Wildcats, who overcame the largest deficit under John Calipari, were still down 47-34 with 13:51 remaining.

Monk making a go-ahead 3 with 3:40 left before adding another long-range shot with 49 seconds left for 69-62 lead.

The freshman guard then made four free throws in the final 21 seconds to finish with 27 points for Kentucky (25-5, 15-2). Bam Adebayo added 16 points and De’Aaron Fox had 13 after a onegame absence with a knee injury.

Luke Kornet had 21 points and Joe Toye added 15 for Vanderbilt (16-14, 9-8), which made 11 3-pointers but had its four-game winning streak stopped.

Kentucky’s Malik Monk (right) has his shot challenged by Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet during the second half of Tuesday’s game in Lexington, Ky.

and Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 15 for the Seminoles (23-7, 11-6), who had their two-game winning streak snapped. James Crisp / The Associated Press

straight and pulled away.

Purdue has won seven of eight and has clinched the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament.