The Official #16 Tennessee vs. #4 Kentucky Game Thread, 9:00 PM ET, ESPN

[hUTch2002]

HUGE game Saturday against the Hogs. Win that and we all but lock up a top 3 seed in the SEC tournament. That also could start pushing us up to a 2/3 seed chance in the dance and it would keep our slim hopes of winning the SEC alive.

 

[JCP201]

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

HUGE game Saturday against the Hogs. Win that and we all but lock up a top 3 seed in the SEC tournament. That also could start pushing us up to a 2/3 seed chance in the dance and it would keep our slim hopes of winning the SEC alive.

Our hopes of winning the SEC are not slim.

Edit: Oh maybe you mean regular season. Ok then yes, they are slim

 

[JCP201]

 

[JohnWardForever]

Kentucky-----Plays Dirty. Bout like Florida, both Classless . That's what Barnes gives the Vols. Knowing how to act.

 

[lifeisdeep]

I never bought into the notion that ESPN hates us. But they not only omitted our win tonight from the headlines on the main page, they left it out of the headlines on the NCAAM page. There are headlines about a Baylor player having surgery and a Clemson player getting a one-game suspension... but no headline for the #5 team in the country taking a loss, or about us getting our second win against a top-five opponent. Any remote semblance of trying to pretend they have no bias against us just got obliterated.

Dear ESPN: you’re juvenile, small, and pathetic.

 

[hUTch2002]

Our hopes of winning the SEC are not slim.

Edit: Oh maybe you mean regular season. Ok then yes, they are slim

We need Auburn to lose a game, then we have to win out including beating them. I don’t know what the tiebreaker with UK would look like at that point but just to overcome Auburn is a long shot as I don’t think they’ll lose again except maybe to us.

 

[Volstylexx]

 

[walkenvol]

Ah, A Big Bowl of ORANGE Sherbet works for me! From Publix. Dang good stuff!!

My victory celebration trying to calm down enough to sleep!

 

[BallerVolFan]

We need Auburn to lose a game, then we have to win out including beating them. I don’t know what the tiebreaker with UK would look like at that point but just to overcome Auburn is a long shot as I don’t think they’ll lose again except maybe to us.

I think the tie breaker is head to head but we split. So then it goes to record vs top team in conference. We’d win the tie breaker if it came down to that scenario. But that’s more than likely not going to happen. Auburn might only lose 1 game the rest of the season, if that.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I think the tie breaker is head to head but we split. So then it goes to record vs top team in conference. We’d win the tie breaker if it came down to that scenario. But that’s more than likely not going to happen. Auburn might only lose 1 game the rest of the season, if that.

Vandy tomorrow. At Florida. At Miss State. But I wouldn’t worry about that . Just take them one at a time here. At Arkansas is up next.

 

[SonOfGodVolforlife]

Missed the game again bc of work. Thankfully I have volnation to fill me in with what happened tonight. Surprising it was a different feel tonight reading through this thread, more upbeat and people celebrating with this team after a great game. I love seeing our vols starting to hit their stride at the end of the season!!
But of course
Every now and then someone would bring up the argument what has Rick Barnes done randomly . I mean seriously if you can’t even enjoy a win against a top 5 team at home against your biggest rival in basketball without bringing up you’re weird obsession with Rick Barnes are you a fan?

 

[golfballs]

Odds are pretty good we see UK again in the SECT.

 

[Big time vol]

We need Auburn to lose a game, then we have to win out including beating them. I don’t know what the tiebreaker with UK would look like at that point but just to overcome Auburn is a long shot as I don’t think they’ll lose again except maybe to us.

When Auburn's point guard Zep Jasper went down in the first half of the Missouri game it looked like maybe Auburn's well oiled machine had thrown a gear. They were no where near as efficient as they had been with an average of 18 turnovers a game without him. Jasper played 24 minutes in the A&M game with no turnovers. It may be tough to beat them but in our house it may just be doable. GBO

 

[OllVol]

Why 9pm tip-off on the east coast? That’s just dumb. Work is gonna SUUUCCKKK on Wednesday

No it won't.

 

[Zues1]

Oh what a night!

 

[orangemadam]

0% chance of that.

I wasn't too far off my prediction.

 

[orangemadam]

I am ALL VOL and not a negaVol.

Here are my concerns for the game :
KC needs to eliminate his lazy passes
Vescovi needs to eliminate his usual one or two ridiculously unneeded fouls
BHH and Uros need to suddenly learn how to box out the opponents big man tonight
Reduce rotation, keep the hot hand in even though it is time to "sub" according to the Butch Jones "chart"

Do some of the above and shoot 48% from the field and we can win this game.

If we don't do the above, it's 88-76 Ky. I'm going with the above and predict UT wins 73-69

Well, instead of BHH and Uros it was JF and Aidoo. Aidoo and ZZ gonna be superstars in 2 years

 

[supersmo18]

Rat poison. Cats will enjoy the underdog situation.

Are they still enjoying it?

 

[marvin616]

Well, instead of BHH and Uros it was JF and Aidoo. Aidoo and ZZ gonna be superstars in 2 years

ZZ and Aidoo say "Hold my beer..."

 

[vegasvolfan]

LAYUP LINES - PLAYERS

• During UT's four-game win streak, Josiah-Jordan James and Zakai Zeigler combine to account for 49 percent of the team's scoring and 53 percent of the team's steals while shooting .452 from 3-point range (19 of 42) and .889 from the free-throw line (32 of 36).
• James' 66 points over the last four games (16.5 ppg) mark the best four-game stretch of his career.
• All-SEC candidate Santiago Vescovi is the league's top 3-point shooter during SEC play, hitting at a .457 clip from long range
• Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and Bob Cousy Award candidate Kennedy Chandler's 2.35 steals per game rank 12th in Division I and second nationally among true freshmen.
• Vescovi (20), Chandler (17) and James (11) scored 48 of Tennessee's 79 points during the Vols' lopsided loss at Kentucky last month. The trio made nine of UT's 11 made 3-pointers in that game.

I'm really proud of and a little surprised. I love being wrong. I was concerned we might struggle to get to 20 wins. I'm in awe of how accurate data predictions can be. I appreciate people pointing me to the Kenpom sp? to temper my doubts.

One of the more exciting things I saw was after the game. Fulkerson, ZZ seemed so ready to go an play another game. In fact, Fulkerson was using the language of the pros and that was less about the game they just won and more about the road ahead.

 

[cobbwebb0710]

Well, instead of BHH and Uros it was JF and Aidoo. Aidoo and ZZ gonna be superstars in 2 years

The quicker BHH realizes he’s 6’10”, 250 lbs and starts playing like it, the quicker this squad becomes a serious threat. Especially if Aidoo can give us post production and a nice presence around the rim.
GBO!!

 

[cobbwebb0710]

I'm really proud of and a little surprised. I love being wrong. I was concerned we might struggle to get to 20 wins. I'm in awe of how accurate data predictions can be. I appreciate people pointing me to the Kenpom sp? to temper my doubts.

One of the more exciting things I saw was after the game. Fulkerson, ZZ seemed so ready to go an play another game. In fact, Fulkerson was using the language of the pros and that was less about the game they just won and more about the road ahead.

Ain’t gonna lie, I had a bad feeling about last nights game.
GBO!!

 

[Jimmy Football]

Per Jimmy Hyams, odds makers are drunk for even suggesting the Vols have a chance to win. The entire sports animal evening staff picked Kentucky. They are a very beatable team, especially with their injuries. Not sure why they are being hyped as the best team in the SEC other than that's typically how they get viewed without regard to reality.

Vegas: Vols -1

Sports Animal Dunces: Cats -20

Neither were close…one was closer.

 

[wmcovol]

We need Auburn to lose a game, then we have to win out including beating them. I don’t know what the tiebreaker with UK would look like at that point but just to overcome Auburn is a long shot as I don’t think they’ll lose again except maybe to us.

Aub has barely won @ Ga & @Mizzou. They may lose a couple others but Tenn & Ky going undefeated themselves rest of the way would be the feat.