Three Staggering Numbers From Kentucky's 63-56 Win Over Tennessee

Kentucky basketball stole headlines on Saturday afternoon, as John Calipari and the Wildcats left Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. with an astounding 63-56 victory over the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers.

The win launched UK out of its cavernous rut that had stymied the entire first half of the 2022-23 regular season. Despite coming into the matchup as 10.5-point underdogs, on the road in a building where it had lost six of its last 10 games inside of, without a starting point guard and undermanned bench, the Cats found a way to "steal" a win, as Calipari put it postgame.

For more on Kentucky's 63-56 win, click HERE.

Here are three eye-popping statistics from Kentucky's improbable win:

19 Turnovers

Kentucky had more turnovers than made field goals (18) on Saturday, yet still won by seven points. That's absurd.
It's the highest total of turnovers in a game this season for UK, just edging out when it committed 18 to the loss on UCLA on Dec. 17.
The Cats turned the ball over just six times against South Carolina and lost, yet found victory on the road while giving it away 19 times.
Seven of nine Wildcats who played committed at least one turnover. Only Oscar Tshiebwe and Ugonna Onyenso (played less than one minute) didn't give one away.

0 Points

This is the number of points contributed by Cason Wallace on Saturday. The freshman standout has at times been one of the only reliable players on the court for the Cats, but was dealing with back spasms that limited him to just eight minutes in the loss to South Carolina.
He clearly wasn't himself against the Volunteers and played just 22 minutes. With UK already without Sahvir Wheeler due to injury, the guard play was already fighting an uphill battle. Wallace took just three shots and turned the ball over five times, though he recorded a team-high six assists.
Scoring has been a red-alert issue for UK, so for it to fight past a Tennessee team that's rated No. 1 in defensive efficiency per KenPom — without a single point from either Wheeler or Wallace is baffling.

88 Percent

Kentucky entered Saturday as the 312th-best free-throw shooting team in the nation, making just 65.61 percent of its looks from the charity stripe.
That percentage was even worse away from Rupp Arena. In their first six games outside of Lexington, the Wildcats were an abysmal 60 percent from the line. Heading into yet another hostile environment, there was zero reason to believe that the freebies would start to fall.
Kentucky would go on to drain 22 of 25 attempts against the Vols, good for an 88 percent clip. Calipari has been adamant that his team is good at shooting free throws, even though the numbers suggested otherwise.
Antonio Reeves led the way going 8-8, calling the performance "refreshing," while true freshman Adou Thiero stepped up to the plate and made all four of his attempts.

John Calipari found vindication in Kentucky's victory over the Volunteers. More HERE.

Game notes from the win can be found HERE.

Hear what Antonio Reeves and Jacob Toppin had to say about the win HERE.

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