Kentucky overcomes 17-point deficit in huge comeback win against Tennessee

Kentucky basketball was looking to carry over the magic from Wednesday night's thrilling win at LSU as they were back on the road taking on the #24 Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville on Saturday, a big opportunity for them to pick up another much-needed Quad 1 victory to help their resume. The Wildcats needed to be prepared for the physicality, and the Volunteers certainly brought it. After another bad first half, it was once again a second-half surge that gave Kentucky the big 80-78 win.

The Wildcats started out well staying with Tennessee and trying to avoid yet another slow start, but that wasn't the case. With just over 13 minutes left in the first half, an 11-0 run by the Volunteers' took their lead from one to 12, and that is when things started going bad for Kentucky. With 10 minutes left in the half, Kentucky went on a seven-minute drought with no field goals, and Tennessee's lead stretched to 17, but thanks to a drought by the Vols, the Wildcats were able to take an 11-point lead into halftime.

Tennessee brought the physicality all game, and it really bothered Kentucky. In the first half, the Volunteers had not only a huge rebound advantage, but they were terrific asserting their physicality in the paint. The Wildcats got beat 19-12 on the glass in the first half, but also 10-0 on offensive rebounds. Tennessee also had 16 points in the paint, as well as 10 points off turnovers to Kentucky's zero. But, as you have seen, Mark Pope's squad is a second-half team, and they showed that once again, as it was another instant-classic of a game involving the Wildcats.

Kentucky turned an 11-point halftime deficit, a first half where they were down as much as 17 points, into a four-point game with 11:26 left, as close as it had been since 12-8 early in the first half. They started to really take advantage of Tennessee's sloppy offense, as well as Mo Dioubate being a difference-maker on the glass, but it was really with the help of Denzel Aberdeen, Otega Oweh, and Jasper Johnson as for why the Wildcats stayed in it and were able to get it done. Johnson had 12 of Kentucky's 31 points in the first half, while Otega Oweh and especially Denzel Aberdeen were massive in their comeback rally. Oweh had 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including Aberdeen with 18 of his 22 points then, too. Kentucky stayed with the Vols from then on, eventually getting their first lead of the game in the final seconds, asuch better play late, combined with no field goals for Tennessee in the last five minutes helped gift the Wildcats a massive resume-boosting win.

Taking care of the ball better, being more active on the glass, and turning Tennessee over on offense gave the Wildcats a huge win for their resume, and another epic finish of a game after a huge comeback.