Before every Kentucky basketball game Cats Illustrated previews the Wildcats' upcoming opponent with a look at team and player stats, their highs and lows and overall performance to date.

Here are 10 things you should know about Vanderbilt before Kentucky takes on the Commodores in Nashville's storied Memorial Gym.

Yes, they've been better at home. But Memorial Gym hasn't really saved these Commodores.

Vanderbilt normally has one of the best and most feared home court advantages in the SEC. The Commodores have been better in Nashville than they've been elsewhere. Bryce Drew's second team is 6-4 at home, 0-4 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites. So they have been better at home but some of that is playing worse competition in Memorial than on the road and at neutral venues. Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, Kansas State and USC have all won at Memorial Gym this year.

Vanderbilt's attendance is way down.

As The Tennessean recently pointed out, Vanderbilt's attendance during the 2017-18 season has been lower than in any of its season averages over the past 53 years. Losing has a tendency to depress enthusiasm. There were 11,510 fans at the Vandy-Tennessee game recently, about 3,000 more than Vandy's season average at home, but that's one of the biggest games on the 'Dores' schedule.

Expect Kentucky fans to ruin Vandy's planned Blackout.

In an attempt to drum up fan enthusiasm for a slumping team, Vanderbilt is pushing a Blackout for the Kentucky game. That's no surprise. Kentucky makes for a good t-shirt game everywhere they go. While Kentucky is likely to bring out a bigger crowd than most of the other teams on Vanderbilt's schedule, in spite of inclement weather it's probably a given that blue will get in to Memorial Gym, making that Blackout look more black and blue.

Beating Alabama has been the high point of Vandy's season so far.

Alabama has been widely regarded as a tournament-quality team in spite of a pedestrian 10-6 record through more than half of its regular season schedule. Collin Sexton is a big reason for that. But Vanderbilt was able to knock off Alabama 76-75 in Nashville in its second SEC game. The Commodores outrebounded the Tide, made a living at the free throw line and knocked down 10 three-pointers in that game.

Bad though Vandy has been, they have been competitive in SEC games.

True, Vanderbilt owns an unimpressive 1-3 record through four SEC games. But for the most part the Commodores have been competitive, at least, in those contests. Nobody will mistake an 11-point loss at South Carolina this year as a moral victory, and losing at home to Tennessee or anybody isn't a recipe for a league championship, but Vandy hasn't been blown out in SEC play. They did look awful in the first half against Florida in their conference opener, but came back strong in the second half to make the final score respectable.

The 'Dores have been tested.

Vanderbilt has played a murderer's row schedule compared to most of the teams in college basketball and, yes, compared to what Kentucky has faced thus far. In Florida, Alabama and Tennessee, they have played three tournament-quality teams in the early SEC schedule. But the non-conference schedule turned out to be fantastic with games against Southern Cal, Virginia, Kansas State and Seton Hall.

The computers like Vanderbilt more than people.

The Commodores have been largely written off because of their atrocious record, and it's true that barring an SEC tournament miracle this Vanderbilt team will not be dancing. They probably won't be in any postseason tournament. But the computers do like them quite a bit more than it seems people do. KenPom ranks Vanderbilt as a Top 100 team (92nd), with the 77th adjusted offense and 127th adjusted defense. That particular model seems to factor the Commodores' record and final outcomes less because they have played one of the most difficult schedules in college basketball.

The formula still hasn't changed.

If you're expecting anything other than a Vanderbilt team that tries to impose a snail's pace tempo while launching three pointers ... Well, don't expect anything else. Vanderbilt ranks 261st in KenPom's adjusted tempo rankings, so it's another stall ball Commodore team.

Jeff Roberson is the Commodores' best player.

The senior forward averages 14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds as Vanderbilt's leading scorer and rebounder by solid margins. Roberson has made impressive strides as a three-point shooter. Over his first two seasons in Nashville he hit long range shots at an impressive clip. He just didn't shoot much. Last year as the attempts went up, the percentage plummeted. In 2017-18 so far, Roberson is shooting more threes than ever, and he's back up to making them at a 43.3-percent clip. He's a reliable 88-percent free throw shooter. Roberson is not the kind of 15-point per game scorer who will have wild swings in his point total. He season high was 21 points against Alcorn State. But he has been in double-digits in all but three of the Commodores games. Roberson's rebounding numbers have declined in conference play.

Fisher-Davis is struggling.

The year 2017 was a tough one for Matthew Fisher-Davis. He inexplicably fouled a Northwestern player with his Commodores leading by one point with less than 20 seconds to play in the NCAA tournament, and he has taken a step back on the court. Fisher-Davis' scoring average is down from his junior season and he's shooting just 38-percent from the floor. He's become a less efficient offensive player for two consecutive years now. His three-point shooting has worsened, too. Because he hasn't improved the way Vanderbilt needed him to, given the loss of Luke Kornet, his minutes haven't gone up either.