KNOXVILLE, Ten. — No. 12 Kentucky men’s basketball bounced back at Thompson-Boling Arena against No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday, winning 78-73.
The win marked just the second in true road contests all season after the Cats also won in Starkville over Mississippi State in January. UK’s record in true road games now stands at 2-3.
Kentucky entered the matchup on the back of back-to-back losses, at home against Alabama and away at Vanderbilt, marking the first time in the Mark Pope Era that the Cats had suffered such a streak.
Looking to bounce back against the rivals Vols, Kentucky marched out a slightly different starting lineup consisting of Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, Ansley Almonor and Amari Williams. UK starting point guard Lamont Butler was ruled out prior to the game with a shoulder injury while Andrew Carr was extremely limited with ongoing back issues.
Despite being limited in the contest, UK jumped out to a quick lead thanks, in big part, due to Tennessee’s offensive ineptitude. With 3-pointers falling from Robinson, UK led 12-4 at the first timeout.
From there both offenses would stagnate as Pope inserted numerous faces into the lineup including Carr, Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler, Travis Perry and Trent Noah, marking the second contest in a row that all three UK freshmen saw the floor.
Nearly halfway through the first half, the score stood at 13-9 Cats.
Kentucky then seemed to click a bit better offensively, jumping out to a seven-point lead (23-16), but disaster would soon strike for the Cats.
For a variety of reasons, both offensive and defensive, Kentucky began to crumble and allowed an 11-0 Vol lead, which put the home side up by three at the break despite trailing for nearly the entire first half.
Back out for the second half, Kentucky ignited once again, going on a 13-4 run to lead by six less than five minutes into the half.
Kentucky would be 3-3 from the field by that point, but 3-3 quickly became 5-5 and even 7-7 as the Cats found themselves up by as many as 11 points.
While the Vols would chip into that lead, Kentucky extended it back to nine with under seven minutes to play. In spite of that, a costly turnover by Chandler allowed a deafening dunk for the Vols to get back within six with four-and-a-half to play.
From there, the lead would shrink further, down to three, when Vol Chaz Lanier nailed a 3-pointer. The former North Florida Osprey has been the star of Tennessee’s team.
Despite the scare, however, Kentucky would manage to push the lead back up to multiple scores and eventually hold on to secure the victory, despite further scares, as the Vols would once again go cold from the field.
Kentucky will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1, for a highly-anticipated matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks and Head Coach John Calipari. Tipoff against Cal’s Hogs is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.