NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- JohnCalipari sees his young Kentucky Wildcats growing up and playing more the wayhe wants even if youthful mistakes still slip through.
WillieCauley-Stein scored 15 points, and No. 14 Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 71-62Saturday for the Wildcats' fourth straight victory.
AaronHarrison added 14 points and Andrew Harrison 10 and Kentucky (12-3, 2-0)started off a two-game road swing through the Southeastern Conference with awin. Julius Randle had 10 of his 11 rebounds in the first half.
"We'restill not there I'm telling you," Calipari said. "But I'm lookingaround the country I don't see anybody there so this is all good. I like myteam, I like our progress. We have the biggest upside of any team in thecountry. We do. We're the youngest team in the country. That's what we are, andI just got to try to be patient with them."
Caliparihas nine freshmen on his roster, the same number of total players Vanderbiltcoach Kevin Stallings has available right now with leading scorer EricMcClellan first suspended from the university Wednesday before being dismissedfrom the program on Friday.
Thatleft senior Rod Odom as Vandy's leading scorer averaging 13.8 points a game,and he spent 10 minutes of the first half on the bench because of foul trouble.He finished with five points.
"Rod'snow our leading scorer," Stallings said. "Every team needs theirleading scorer."
FreshmanDamian Jones had a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for Vanderbilt (8-6,0-2). Kyle Fuller had 17 points and 10 assists, and Dai-Jon Parker added 17.
Vanderbiltoutshot Kentucky 50 percent (25 of 50) to 42.6 percent (26 of 61).
Butthe Wildcats used their size for a 41-28 rebounding edge, and their much deeperbench outscored the two scholarship players on Vanderbilt's bench 19-3.
"Theyattack offensive rebounds," Stallings said of Kentucky. "Randle is agreat offensive rebounder. I thought Cauley-Stein played well for them. Sometimesyou watch film, and there's a guy who stands out who you like. He's thatplayer. You don't have to make plays for him, and he'll still get you goodproduction. They're a great offensive rebounding team."
TheWildcats took advantage of Vanderbilt's woes by painting the inside of MemorialGym blue with fans making themselves right at home chanting "Go BigBlue" early and often.
Kentuckytook the lead for good at 8-6 on a jumper by Aaron Harrison, the first of ninestraight points as the Wildcats took advantage of a nearly 6-minute scoringdrought by Vanderbilt to go up 15-6. Calipari anticipated Vanderbilt trying togrind his Wildcats down, so he had them open the game trying to match thatpace.
"We'regoing to change a little bit because our starts are so bad, so we're going togrind a little bit and make them play defense," Calipari said.
TheWildcats led 30-22 at halftime but didn't take control until Andrew Harrisonhit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second midway through the second half pushingthe Wildcats' lead back to double digits. Alex Poythress addedhis first bucket on a layup giving Kentucky its biggest lead at 53-39 with 9:26left.
Cauley-Steinsaid he thought the Wildcats played a good game.
"That'sbeen one of the biggest things this year is the word we're not a good team andwe got selfish guys, but I mean the last couple days of practice we've beengetting closer ... basketball-wise as a team, and the game just showed that wereally do got each other's back and we really do got good guys,"Cauley-Stein said.
technical called on Poythressfordelay after a dunk with 5:37 left helped Vanderbilt score five quick pointsincluding a 3-pointer by Parker to pull within 60-52 with 5:20 left.Vandygot within 65-58 on a 3-pointer by Fuller with 2:00 left. The Commodores couldget no closer as Kentucky dribbled to run out the clock and hit a couple freethrows in the final minute, though Aaron Harrison threw up a lob for a would-bedunk in the final seconds that drew boos mixed both for the attempt and thepoor execution.
Caliparitook a timeout so he could remind the freshman guard he wants the easier layupinstead of the AAU-style pass.
"Justtake the points," Calipari said.