Cats slip up in Knoxville; fall to Tennessee for first conference loss
Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari directs his team against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, January 10, 2017. Photo by Michael Reaves | Staff
January 25, 2017
It was a rough night for No. 4 UK as it fell to conference rival Tennessee Volunteers 82-80 Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn. in what was the Cats’ worst shooting night of the season as they struggled against the Volunteers defense all night.
It was a slow start for the Cats as they only scored 34 points in the first half with 26 of those points being scored by freshmen Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. The story of the first half was UK’s struggle from the field as they shot 34 percent from the field and 15 percent from three.
As for the Volunteers, they played an outstanding game led by senior guard Robert Hubbs III who scored 25 points and pulled down seven rebounds. With the win over the Cats, Tennessee is now 4-4 in conference play and handed UK its first conference loss of the season.
UK was carried by Monk who scored a game-high 25 points, marking his 12th 20-point game this season. To go along with Monk’s 25 points, Adebayo also had a huge game scoring 21 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. Even with good outings from both Monk and Adebayo, UK wasn’t able to pull out the win.
After going scoreless last game against South Carolina, Isaiah Briscoe got himself going as he recorded a double-double. Briscoe finished the game with 11 points and snagged a team-high 14 rebounds. For UK to be successful down the road they will continue to need these types of games from Briscoe night in and night out.
One of the stories on the night for the Cats was their inability to knock down three point shots against the Volunteers. As a team, UK went 6-for-24, shooting 25 percent from the three point line throughout the game.
This loss against the Volunteers drops UK’s record to 17-3 on the season and 7-1 in conference play this season. The Cats will need to regroup and get ready for their next game Saturday against No. 2 Kansas in Rupp Arena.
This game will be a big game for both teams as they are both coming off losses on the same night after Kansas lost to No. 18 West Virginia earlier on Tuesday. This game will set the tone for the Cats leading into March. It will be a good one on Saturday night as these two historic powerhouses collide.
