Kentucky Earns First Regular Season-Sweep Over Tennessee in Over a Decade in 66-54 Victory
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Coming off the heels of an exhausting road win, Kentucky needed to find an extra gear on Saturday afternoon against No. 10 Tennessee — its arch-rival who just defeated the No. 1 team in the country three days prior.
Still tired and still shorthanded, coach John Calipari's Cats finally learned their lesson and didn't dig into a hole they couldn't climb out of. Instead, they let the Volunteers do some digging of their own.
Kentucky (18-9, 9-5 SEC) never trailed en route to a gigantic 66-54 win, further pushing it on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. It's the first regular-season sweep of the Vols for UK since the 2011-12 season.
That doesn't mean it came easy, however. After shooting 25.9 percent as a team in the first half, leading to a 39-19 deficit, Tennessee — more-so veteran guard Santiago Vescovi — barged back into the game in a hurry.
The senior out of Montevideo, Uruguay flew canned three 3-pointers in a matter of minutes, propelling himself to a 17-point second half, willing UT to within 10 points for a majority of the final period.
Tennessee (20-7, 9-6) never went away, even cutting the deficit to 62-54 with less than two minutes to play, but continuous misses at the free-throw line and an inability to hold the Cats off the glass nullified a complete comeback.
Four Wildcats totaled double-figures, headlined by a booming 16-point outing from freshman guard Cason Wallace. Center Oscar Tshiebwe added 16 of his own, while freshman forward Chris Livingston tacked on a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Livingston's outing caught the eye of UT coach Rick Barnes, leaving him puzzled in regards to why the combo forward had such a minor role when the two teams first square off just over a month ago.
"I'm not sure what Cal was thinking early in the year," he joked. "He impacts the game, that's one thing for certain."
Calipari was well aware that Livingston was capable of breaking out in a big way, but he knew
"Building your confidence — he was doing it in practice, and then you've got to have a demonstrative performance in the game," he said. "He's now that guy ... the way he's playing, people coming back are gonna be fighting for minutes still, because he needs to be on the court."
Forward Jacob Toppin provided seven points in the second half, leading him to his 10th-straight game in double-figures, this time with 11.
For once, the Wildcats actually had a successful blueprint to follow — and they did so.
In the win over the Volunteers on Jan. 14, UK handily won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding Tennessee 43-23.
Despite Barnes addressing the need to fight harder down low, his team had to try and do so without a pair of key forwards in Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips — who combine to average 10.1 rebounds-per-game.
It wasn't thanks to the usual Oscar Tshiebwe masterclass, but Kentucky again smushed UT on the glass, this time by a 40-32 margin.
The big man finished with only seven boards, but he couldn't have cared less.
"I don't care if I don't get rebounds, we have to win the game," Tshiebwe said. "Go get the ball, let's win the game."
Kentucky was again shorthanded against the Vols, as both point guard Sahvir Wheeler (ankle) and shooting guard CJ Fredrick (ribs) were injured and unavailable. Wheeler missed the first meeting between the teams due to injury as well.
That called for another big performance from a Wildcat guard. Last time it was shooting guard Antonio Reeves, who led with 18 points. This time, it was Wallace pouring in points in a much-needed scoring night for the Dallas native.
Playing through back issues in Knoxville, Wallace went scoreless with six assists in 23 minutes. In UK's win over Mississippi State on Wednesday, he managed 11 assists but shot 1-13 from the floor, scoring just four points. He maintained his dimes output, totaling six to go along with six rebounds on Saturday.
"I reminded (Wallace), this team needs everybody, you have to be ready to play," Calipari said. "You can't come in and foul twice and then sit...no."
After opening the season as one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation, the Cats found a groove from the charity stripe in Thompson-Boling Arena, making 22 of 25 attempts.
That groove didn't continue on Saturday, as the Cats went 23-35 from the line. Thankfully for Calipari, Tennessee — a 72-percent free-throw shooting team — made just four of 14 attempts, including a pitiful 0-6 mark in the second half, one-upping the wretched performance.
"It goes back to consistency ... you can't miss that many free throws," Barnes said.
Kentucky will look to keep the good times rolling as it once again hits the road for one of its final two games away from Rupp Arena in the regular season. It'll now look for another season-sweep, this time over the Florida Gators.
"Talking us out of the NCAA Tournament does not work. You play yourself in or play yourself (out)," Calipari stated.
Tipoff inside the O'Connell Center on Wednesday, Feb. 22 is set for 7 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Want the latest on national football and basketball recruiting, including Cats targets? Head over to SI All-American for the latest news, blogs, and updates about the nation's best prospects.
Sports Illustrated also offers insight, information and up to the minute details for gamblers. Check it out here.
