Kentucky Uses Defense to Defeat Vanderbilt

Kentucky got a look at what the rest of the season is going to be like without Derek Anderson, and it wasn’t pretty.

A few hours after Anderson, their leading scorer, underwent knee surgery Wednesday, the third-ranked Wildcats struggled with an offense that staggered and with a shooting touch that came and went, but used a stifling defense and 16 points from Allen Edwards--Anderson’s replacement--in a 58-46 victory over Vanderbilt in a Southeastern Conference game at Cincinnati.

“This game pleased me more than any this season because of the way we went after it,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “They know what it means to lose Derek Anderson. They know our back’s to the wall right now.

“There’s only one way we can win now--scratch and claw every night. It’s going to be a close game every night. The days of the 20- or 30-point blowouts are not going to be there for Kentucky.”

The Wildcats (17-2, 5-1) didn’t shake Vanderbilt (11-6, 3-3) until starting the second half with an 11-0 run to take control.

No. 1 Kansas 89, Texas A&M; 60--Paul Pierce had 19 points, Raef LaFrentz had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Jerod Haase finished with 17 points for the Jayhawks (19-0, 5-0), who remained the only undefeated team in Division I basketball with a Big 12 victory at Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas opened its 39th consecutive victory at home with an 11-0 run and Texas A&M; (6-9, 0-5) was never in it thereafter.

No. 14 Iowa St. 54, Kansas State 48--Kelvin Cato scored 18 points, blocked eight shots and made three late free throws for the Cyclones (12-3, 3-2) in a Big 12 victory over the Wildcats (7-8, 0-5) at Ames, Iowa.

Florida State 84, No. 19 North Carolina 71--James Collins’ 22 points led the Seminoles (11-4, 2-4) at Tallahassee, Fla., and sent the Tar Heels (11-5) to a 2-4 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time.

No. 23 Texas 76, Oklahoma 66--Ira Clark scored six points in a 12-0 run by the Longhorns (10-5, 4-1) that answered a second-half chastisement by Coach Tom Penders, and they went on to win a Big 12 game over Oklahoma (10-5, 2-3) at Austin, Texas.