Davion Mintz buried a 3-pointer from the left corner with 47 seconds remaining Tuesday night at Rupp Arena to give Kentucky a hard-fought 77-74 win over Vanderbilt.

It also helped him bury a memory.

The Wildcats' graduate transfer guard said he had a similar shot during his junior year at Creighton that could have beaten rival Xavier.

"Same exact spot in that corner over there," Mintz recalled. "... I shot it, and it came up short, and it bounced back to me. And the clock was obviously out, but I shot it again, and bottoms. Swish.

"It was just haunting me because I wanted that back, and I went to the gym that night and shot -- I don't know -- a couple hundred. I just knew I'd get this opportunity again. I didn't know where it would be at, but I was going to hit that corner 3."

Mintz did just that on Tuesday, and it helped Kentucky improve to 2-0 in SEC play after opening the season with only one win in the first seven games.

“It felt amazing," said Mintz, who had 11 points on the night. "Coach is drawing it up, and I knew where he had placed me. I knew that it would be open. Devin (Askew) put it right on the money and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, this feels amazing.'"

Mintz's shot helped the Cats come back from a nine-point deficit in the first half and from five points down early in the second half against the upset-minded Commodores.

Vanderbilt had a pair of 3-pointers in the final seconds that could have sent the game into overtime, but both Trey Thomas and Maxwell Evans missed good looks from the arc. Evans' shot at the buzzer danced on the rim momentarily before falling to the side.

It was a stroke of good fortune for a Kentucky team that has been unlucky late in several games this season, including three one-possession losses.

“My heart was dropping," Mintz said. "(Vanderbilt) kind of experienced what we have been going through for a while. Coach calls it buzzard’s luck, and that’s what they had. They had a good look with the ball-fake and they got the rebound and kicked it back out. Just the fact that it hit every part of the rim, me and Dev (Askew) will look at the film again and we were just staring in shock. Thank God it went our way.”

"We're getting better," UK coach John Calipari said. "The other thing is the execution, and I'm demanding it. I mean, coming out of a timeout the Olivier Sarr play, the last play, for Davion Mintz, execution. You know why? They're worried about their team instead of themselves."

Sarr, another graduate transfer, led UK with a game-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The 7-footer was 14-of-17 at the free-throw line and also had a key steal with approximately two minutes remaining to help the Cats hang on.

Kentucky also got another strong performance from redshirt freshman wing Dontaie Allen with 14 points off the bench and 11 points from freshman guard Devin Askew.

The Cats had their best day of the season at the foul line where they went 26-of-32.

Vanderbilt (4-4, 0-2 SEC) had a trio of players score 18 points -- guard Scotty Pippen Jr., forward Dylan Disu, and wing Jordan Wright. The Commodores lost despite hitting 10 3-pointers and holding a surprising 42-29 advantage on the glass.

It marked UK's ninth straight win over Vandy.

*****

RAPID RECAP:

Kentucky moves to 2-0 on the "new season" with some good vibes and good luck replacing the despair and misfortune of the first seven games. The Cats seem to be getting better, although this particular team may make every game a cardiac threat for Big Blue Nation. Olivier Sarr came up big with 24 points and seven rebounds to lead UK in this one. Homegrown crowd favorite Dontaie Allen had another productive game off the bench (14 points, 5 rebounds) as did unsung hero Jacob Toppin (6 points, 6 rebounds), while Davion Mintz came up with the clutch 3-pointer to win the game. A lot of good contributors to this one.

GAME BALL:

Olivier Sarr, Kentucky -- This was the All-ACC big man that Big Blue Nation was expecting when Sarr transferred from Wake Forest this summer. He was a huge presence in the post, putting Vanderbilt in serious foul trouble and cashing in on 14 of his 17 attempts at the free-throw line en route to a 24-point night.

KEY STAT:

Kentucky had only two turnovers on the night, the fewest it has committed since the infamous 24-11 win over Cincinnati in 1983 prior to the introduction of the shot clock. The Cats were averaging 16.1 turnovers per game entering the matchup, one of the main contributors to their 1-6 start.

QUOTABLE:

"We only had two turnovers, which is crazy. We had none at halftime. You're talking about a team that led the nation in unforced turnovers. So, you could tell what the last two weeks, three weeks all I've been working on, making the easiest play, not trying to be a hero." -- UK coach John Calipari

UP NEXT:

The Cats travel to Florida for a 5 p.m. ET tipoff on Saturday. The Gators (5-2, 2-1 SEC) fell 86-71 at Alabama on Tuesday.