On Jan. 17, Kentucky men’s basketball walked into Knoxville and pulled off an unthinkable 17-point comeback victory over No. 24 Tennessee. The Cats led only 34 seconds – but luckily for them, it would be the final 34 seconds of the game.
Only 22 days later, history repeated itself. Kentucky men’s basketball (17-7, 8-3 SEC) pulled off yet another second-half comeback against its border foes, taking a 74-71 victory after being down by as many as 14.
The Cats have now won eight of their last nine games and have overtaken the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings.
Tonight marked one of the most anticipated games in the Mark Pope era for a multitude of reasons – the biggest being the return of the denims.
Pope and Kentucky’s 1995-96 national championship-winning squad, better known as “The Untouchables,” debuted the denim jersey for the first time, and it had been nearly 30 years since the denims were worn inside Rupp.
However, early this year, it was announced they would be back, and it’s no surprise they intend to wear them against the Cats’ biggest rival, Tennessee.
Kentucky had already upset a ranked Volunteers team this season, traveling down to Knoxville and completing a 17-point comeback to upset No. 24 Tennessee 80-78.
Tennessee won the opening tipoff, quickly silencing a packed sea of blue inside Rupp, scoring on its opening drive with a slam dunk.
Otega Oweh wasted no time in response, scoring a layup, and it would begin a back-and-forth exchange of baskets between the two teams through the first two minutes.
Kentucky quickly took full momentum, and a 6-0 run backed by two huge defensive plays gave the Cats an early edge.
Tennessee showed early struggles on the offense, and by the 15:30 mark, Tennessee had only hit one of seven straight shots, missing five straight.
Kentucky entered a scoring drought of its own, but maintained the lead with a strong defensive presence, up 8-7 heading into the first timeout.
Tennessee regained the lead with a 7-0 run fueled by a deep three, but Brandon Garrison got Rupp Arena back on its feet with a layup, cutting the Vols’ lead to two with 13 minutes remaining in the first.
Kentucky’s offense struggled, nailing only one of seven straight shots, however, Tennessee wasn’t having any better luck, the score remaining 12-10 for over three minutes before the Vols found a basket.
Oweh answered with a score of his own, nailing a layup, and a Deznel Aberdeen score tied the game at 14.
Through the first 10 minutes, Kentucky shot 44% from the field, but missed on all five of its attempts from beyond the arc. The Cats also missed all five of their free-throw attempts.
Tennessee’s offense, on the other hand, was finding its footing, and another 8-0 run gave the Vols their largest lead of the game at eight with just under nine minutes left in the first half.
Oweh took control of the Kentucky offense, but it wasn’t enough as the Vols nailed five straight shots, four of them coming from beyond the arc.
Nate Ament alone nailed three of those, and suddenly the Vols were on top by double digits, taking a 28-18 lead and forcing Pope to take his first timeout.
The Cats came out of the timeout with back-to-back scores from Aberdeen and Oweh, cutting the deficit to six.
However, Tennessee’s efficiency from beyond the arc persisted, and the lead quickly went back up by ten.
With three and a half minutes of training, Collin Chandler delivered Kentucky’s second three of the game, and Trent Noah responded on defense with a steal, sending the crowd into a frenzy ahead of a timeout, the Vols up 36-28.
The Cat would come out of the break, sending one of their best free-throw shooters to the line, with a chance to get the game back within six.
Noah gave Kentucky its first and second free-throw points of the game, with the score at 36-30.
Unfortunately, it would be Tennessee silencing the crowd in the final two minutes, nailing five straight shots and going on a 7-0 scoring run to take its largest lead of the game at 13.
For the second time this season, Kentucky headed into the locker room down by double digits to its border rival, the Vols up 47-33 as the buzzer sounded.
The Vols shot an impressive 53% from the field and the three, nailing eight shots from beyond the arc through the first 20 minutes.
The Cats shot right at 50% from the field, but an underwhelming 22% from the three, and, more concerningly, just 33% from the charity stripe.
Kentucky could only hope the game would turn around in the same fashion it did down in Knoxville only 22 days ago, and would be searching for yet another second-half comeback.
Oweh put up the first points in the second half, and Malachi Moreno would nail two free throws to get the Cats moving. Aberdeen and Jelavic would find two scores of their own, quickly cutting Tennessee’s lead to nine.
The Vols would respond just as quickly with a couple score of their own to push their lead, but Chandler brought the deficit back down to ten four minutes in the second half.
Any chance of momentum Kentucky had was quickly stopped by persistent fouls. At the 15:45 mark, the Wildcats accounted for four fouls, the Vols giving up just one.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Chandler and Anerdeen put the Cats down by just eight.
Two unanswered scores from Mo Dioubate put the game at just a six-point difference at the 13-minute mark, Kentucky down 57-51.
Tennessee had entered a near three-minute scoring drought, missing five straight shots. By the 12 minute mark, they had found just two baskets – but retained the lead by putting up six points off free throws.
A 6-0 run put Kentucky back with four, and Tennessee’s scoring drought pushed to over five minutes.
An Oweh dunk sent Rupp Arena on its feet as the Cats were within just one score, forcing the Vols into a timeout, holding only a 57-55 lead with 9:25 left on the clock.
Tennessee found a score with just under nine minutes remaining, but Jasper Johnson would answer with a score of his own.
By the 7:57 mark, Tennessee only scored on one of 14 straight shots. Unfortunately for Kentucky, its foul struggles persisted, keeping the Vols ahead.
With 7:38 remaining, the game was within one, following an Oweh score.
Tennessee turned the ball over on its next drive, and Oweh would give Kentucky another score – and the Cats their first lead of the night with 6:18 left in the game, 61-60.
The score also tallied Oweh’s 20th point of the night, marking his fifth straight game putting up 20 or more points. He ended the night with 21 points, shooting 58% form the field.
Tennessee would retake the lead 65-62 with five unanswered points and just under five and a half minutes remaining in the game.
Kentucky got it back within one, down just 65-64, but yet another foul sent the Vols back to the line, granting them two easy points.
A Moreno score put it back within one, and Kentucky headed into a timeout with the ball in its hands, down 67-66.
Aberdeen headed to the line with 1:27 left in the game, hitting both of his free throws to give Kentucky the lead once again.
Tennessee responded, and Pope called his third timeout, the Vols up 69-68 with 50 seconds to go.
With 32 seconds left in the game, Chandler nailed the biggest three of his career – Kentucky going up 71-69, the Vols calling a timeout with just 27.4 left on the clock.
The ball was back in Kentucky’s hands with just 14 seconds remaining, after a missed shot by the Vols. Kentucky took a 72-69 lead over Tennessee.
With just eight seconds to go, Tennessee headed to the line with two shots. After nailing both, the Vols were down just 72-21.
Chandler headed to the line with seven seconds left and a chance to win; his shot would fall short, but Dioubate would be there to rebound. Aberdeen headed to the line for two after being fouled, and after nailing both, would seal the deal for Kentucky.
Mark Pope now holds a 4-1 record against the Volunteers as Kentucky’s head coach and continues his undefeated streak against Tennessee in Rupp.
The Cats will get a full week to recover before going on the road to face No. 17 Florida (17-6, 8-2 SEC). Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. EST and will air live on ABC.
