INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — No. 3 Kentucky men’s basketball was defeated handily by No. 2 Tennessee 78-65 inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The loss took place in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen and saw the Cats finish the year 2-1 against the Vols.

Looking to continue rolling with what worked in the first two rounds in Milwaukee, Kentucky brought out a familiar starting lineup of Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. The group would start against Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, Zakai Zeigler, Igor Milicic Jr., Jahmai Mashack and Felix Okpara.

Things got off to a sloppy start for Kentucky as, despite early shooting woes for both sides, Tennessee quickly took a lead that it wouldn’t concede for the remainder of the game

In fact, even with the insertions of Ansley Almonor, Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah, Kentucky soon found itself trailing by double digits.

As the Cats continued to struggle and the Vols continued to roll, things got ugly fast as Tennessee led by as many as 19 points in the first half.

As Kentucky found itself with more fouls, less rebounds and less bench points, things looked grim for the Cats as it took a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Chandler to send the Cats into the halftime break trailing by 15 as a three-ball by Oweh was switched to a two.

Back out for the second half, Tennessee started to struggle from the floor, but Kentucky failed to capitalize, finishing its first two possessions with a shot-clock violation and an airball.

Before long, Tennessee found its shot again, extending the lead back up to 17.

By the time Kentucky managed to put anything together offensively, Tennessee was able to respond back and keep the gap in double figures, suppressing any chances of a Wildcat comeback.

As time continued to tick away, it became clearer and clearer that Kentucky simply didn’t have what it took in Indianapolis as the UT lead began being closer to 20 than it was single digits.

That assessment would prove to be correct as, despite a few minor surges from UK, the Cats were forced to foul and Tennessee was able to hold on and secure its way back to the Elite Eight as Rick Barnes continues to seek the first ever Final Four in Tennessee history.

The loss to Tennessee ended Kentucky’s season in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, sending Pope into his second offseason in Lexington. With one transfer, Kam Williams, already committing to UK, the Cats will look to keep their roster intact and replace their senior leaders such as Butler, Williams, Carr, Almonor, Jaxson Robinson and Brea.