Mark Pope was left a bare cupboard when he accepted the Kentucky men’s basketball coaching gig. The only holdover from John Calipari‘s departure was freshman guard Travis Perry. Pope took the job without a single player on the roster who had played a minute of college basketball.

Vanderbilt is off to its best start in a decade and a half, sitting at 15-4 on the year with a statement win over No. 6 Tennessee this past weekend in Mark Byington‘s first season in Nashville. That came following what was essentially a total roster rebuild,

Byington is part of an influx of high-level coaches into the SEC, which is part of the reason the league is having an unprecedented season. The league has added impressive coaches in the past few seasons, including Kentucky's Mark Pope, Mississippi State's ...

Kentucky fifth-year forward Andrew Carr was ruled out for the Wildcats in the game on the SEC injury report injury report Saturday afternoon. This was the first game that Carr missed for UK this season. On Friday night’s injury report, Carr was listed as questionable, and Kerr Kriisa as out, for the Vanderbilt game.

Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler dribbled stealthily along the baseline before turning on a dime back toward the basket, attempting to muster a decent look late in the shot clock. With the No. 9 Wildcats nursing a four-point lead at Vanderbilt and under eight minutes remaining,

Here's what Mark Byington said about Vanderbilt basketball's back to back court stormings against Tennessee and Kentucky basketball.

Under coach Mark Byington, the Commodores’ pressure forced ... At the start of the season, Pope’s professed goal was to average at least 30 attempts, if not 35 attempts, from 3-point land ...

As No. 9 Kentucky prepares to take on Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium this Saturday, Mark Pope is gearing up for his first visit back to the iconic venue since his days as a Wildcat.

Get real-time COLLEGEBASKETBALL basketball coverage and scores as Kentucky Wildcats takes on Vanderbilt Commodores. We bring you the latest game previews, live stats, and recaps on CBSSports.com

On a two-game losing streak, Kentucky faces a road trip to Tennessee and then John Calipari’s return to Rupp Arena.

Nine players departed after Stackhouse’s firing. That prompted Byington to bring in 11 transfers, including Michigan State guard AJ Hoggard, North Texas’ leading scorer Jason Edwards, Virginia Tech sharpshooter Tyler Nickel and James Madison sophomore center Jaylen Carey.

Contrast that success with Calipari’s first Arkansas team, which needed six tries to notch its first SEC win of the year, and Kentucky fans figure to have plenty of ammunition Saturday. The Razorbacks are just 12-8 overall, and their 1-6 start to SEC play has them looking like a long shot for an NCAA Tournament berth.