Festus Ezeli gave up a season-high 28 points to Anthony Davis in the second meeting between the standout centers.

“I wanted (Davis) bad. Bad,” Ezeli said. “Last game he demolished me. That’s not the way I play. I take pride in my defense, and he had a career-high (28 points) on me. I had to play him again.”

Ezeli responded with 17 points -- including four dunks and seven make free throws -- and pulled down six rebounds in Vanderbilt’s 71-64 win over No. 1 Kentucky in the SEC Tournament championship.

“I wasn’t going to let any play he makes stop me today,” Ezeli said “I was going to keep coming. I’ve fought through a lot of adversity. I don’t know. It’s made me not play up to my capability for a lot of this season. I did have something to prove. I had a lot to prove.”