Lexington, KY. – Kentucky sweeps Tennessee in the regular season. The second meeting looked more like the first meeting than Rick Barnes and company would’ve liked to see.
The Vols had flashes where the defense was feeding the offense and it gave them a chance late. That was until Kentucky went on a 12-2 run late in the game to seal the victory.
FDP’s three takeaways following the 75-64 loss at Rupp Arena.
1. Better discipline on offense:
Tennessee was out of sorts on offense in the first meeting against Kentucky. In the rematch, the Vols were much more persistent in the paint. Despite Kentucky loading the paint like last time, Tennessee chose to stay aggressive in the paint to maintain balance on offense.
The game started a little slow, Lanier’s first bucket of the game was a pullup jumper that brought Tennessee back within three with about eight minutes left in the first half.
The next possession, the classic tandem for this Tennessee offense. Zakai Zeigler threw up a lob to Felix Okpara who threw it down for his 50th dunk on the season!
That score brought Tennessee within one and marked the four-straight bucket for the Vols.
Kentucky crowded the paint on defense for much of the first half, just asking Tennessee to try the perimeter shot. Though, unlike last time, the Vols did a better job of choosing to be more physical from the field.
Like this play when Zeigler drove baseline for a reverse layup to make it 24-23 Wildcats. That capped a stretch of three consecutive scores for Tennessee.
Next play, in transition Jordan Gainey had a tough finish after the rim after he somehow gathered a bad pass from Zeigler. The layup brought Tennessee within three. Which, the game hadn’t been that close since the 5:03 mark in the first half.
Tennessee found its first lead on a second-chance effort. A three from the wing bounced off the rim into the hands of Lanier, he kicked it back to Gainey who decided this time to drive to the rack and it paid off for a pair.
2. Three-pointers one again the difference
The few times Tennessee took the three in the first half, they were good looks just took an unfavorable roll-out or fell just short. Which was the case on their first three missed three-pointers.
Their third missed triple ended a strong stretch for the Vols where they connected on seven of eight attempts from the field by the 3:28 mark.
That was a sign of what was to come in the final minutes of the half. After that miss, Tennessee couldn’t connect the rest of the way. 0-6 from the field and three of those were perimeter looks.
Tennessee failed to register one three the entire half.
In the rematch, Tennessee attempted (5) as many threes as it made in the first half in the first meeting.
Tennessee quickly found their first trey when it got into the hands of Igor Milicic Jr. who sank his first attempt, 35-29 Cats.
Later, Mashack set a beautiful screen for Milicic which allowed him to step back and take a quick three-pointer to once again make it a five-point game.
While Tennessee struggled to find the three, Kentucky looked as accurate as ever.
Two late triples led to a 12-2 run over 3:08 minutes that not only gave them the lead back but gave them an eight-point lead.
Just like last time, Kentucky was 50% from the three-point line finishing with 12 triples and 50% from the field.
Kentucky’s 12 threes, two better than its season average.
Kentucky had more players make a three-pointer than Tennessee had made threes. The Wildcats had six players connect from the perimeter. Trent Noah and Koby Brea both knocked down three apiece.
3. Defense Disruptive… at times
Darlinstone Dubar moments after checking in provided much-needed disruption for the Vols on defense.
Kentucky had Tennessee running all over the floor and Dubar got his hand in front of a pass to give Tennessee the ball back. However, Lanier would miss on the long-range double.
Similar to the first meeting, Kentucky connected on seven triples from five different Wildcats.
With about 17 minutes to go in the second half, Tennessee’s defense steps up to slow the Wildcats. Zeigler tips away a bad pass by Amari Williams and he finished with a 17-footer to make it a five-point game.
A couple of possessions later, Jahmai Mashack continued his football-like play with a deflection on a bad pass. It’d fall out of bounds and stay with the Cats.
Later, Cade Phillips would also get a PBU and this time the ball was Tennessee’s. It came at a crucial time when Tennessee made two of its last three field goals to make it a three-point game.
The possession after Tennesee found its first lead, Okpara registered his first block on Brandon Garrison who was driving to the rim at full speed. The sequence ended with Zeigler getting a fast break layup, 58-55.