No. 15 Kentucky men’s basketball entered its matchup against the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers as the third best offense in the country.

An average score of 86.7 points per game has been a lifeline to the Wildcats’ success all season. Meanwhile, Tennessee ranked as the third best defense nationally, holding its opponents to 59.2 points on average.

Given that, in the pair’s matchup two weeks ago, Kentucky sneaked by with a 78-73 win in Knoxville, a binary tale of the tape that looked poised for a narrow ending as a juggernaut defense faced off with an offensive superpower once again.

This time, the Wildcats were without guard Jaxson Robinson, who posted 17 points in their previous matchup with Tennessee, and starting guard Lamont Butler was in just his second game back from a month-long shoulder injury. Additionally, forward Andrew Carr was still limited coming off the bench again after previously starting 18 games for Kentucky this season.

Therefore, the Wildcats had to search in unfamiliar places to pull out a victory.

In a tied game with a re-aggravated shoulder injury sidelining Butler for the final eight minutes, the Wildcats pushed on despite being short handed. 

Career-highs from freshmen guards Travis Perry and Trent Noah, scoring eight and 11 points, respectively, helped push Kentucky past its troubles. 

“This is who (Noah) is, he comes in every single day and he gets no love from us, he’s not a featured guy in practice, he’s not getting the media attention, he’s not gifted anything,” Kentucky Head Coach Pope said. “He comes every single day and competes with full intensity, incredible physicality… his journey to get to tonight is pretty special.”

Noah led Kentucky in points at the half with three deep balls, and the Harlan native also led the Wildcats with an 18 plus/minus.

Pope compared Noah to his former head coach while playing for the Indiana Pacers.

“I was a die hard Larry Bird, Magic Johnson fan… Here’s one of the most confident players to ever step foot on the court and all that talk about where all that confidence came from the work he put in,” Pope said. “And he’s like, ‘I work so hard, I take so many shots.’ You watch Trent Noah work, and he’s highlighted today because he’s so good.”

To Noah’s credit, he’s shooting 66% from the field in his previous four games, which includes five 3-pointers. 

“I mean, every single day, (this coaching staff) instills confidence in me, and we have this thing called ‘Godfidence,’” Noah said. “So, I think it’s really cool, trust in God and having confidence, what more could you need?”

It appears that Pope will offer more minutes to the freshman moving forward this season.

Meanwhile, Perry, a fellow Kentuckian, scored five points in the second half and played 12 meaningful minutes. Pope leaned on Perry with a limited rotation with UK’s injuries in the backcourt. 

“This is the part of the season where these young guys kind of have to become sophomores a little bit, and our roster issues are forcing them to do it,” Pope said. “And they’re ready, they’re talented players who put it in every day.”

In the second half, forward Ansley Almonor, a fifth-year senior, took over as the Wildcats’ leading scorer with 11 points by going a perfect 4-4 from the field in the final 20 minutes, including a massive and-one. It was season-high and team-best 13-point performance for the veteran.

“I know I told you all (Almonor) was going to win us games before the season… I didn’t even expect he would win us this many,” Pope said. “Honestly, I did not recruit him to be a downhill, euro-step through-contact finisher in the crucial moments of the game against the best defensive country in the team. But he did it.”

Recently, Almonor has seen an uptick in minutes, especially with Carr’s nagging back injury. The forward has started the last six games for Kentucky after opening the season as a conventional role player.

“(Almonor) is reaping the rewards beyond his wildest imagination right now,” Pope said. “This is super cool, man, I love it for him.”

On all three levels, Almonor was scoring; inside the arc, outside the arc and at the free-throw line. Against Tennessee this season, he has scored 25 points with 6-10 shooting from three.

“Having that next-man-up mentality, we’re out there every day at practice, we’ve got a great team… obviously Lamont is a great player, we didn’t have him on the court,” Almonor said. “But next man is up, TP (Perry) he’s up to take the challenge and lead us.”

The former Fairleigh Dickinson Knight is familiar with the responsibility of starting as Almonor made 69 career starts prior to transferring to Lexington, and it has been paying dividends for Pope.

Kentucky outscored the Volunteers 26-13, and the Perry-Noah duo combined for all but five of those bench points, which proved to be vital down the stretch as the Wildcats went 5-5 from the field to seal the 75-64 victory.

The Wildcats will travel to Austin, Texas, to matchup against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET with live coverage by ESPN.