The Official #5 Tennessee @ #10 Kentucky Game Thread, 8:30 PM ET, ESPN

[YankeeVol]

#5 Tennessee Volunteers: 15-5 (5-2 SEC)

@

#10 Kentucky Wildcats: 15-5 (5-3 SEC)

GAME 21 | TENNESSEE at KENTUCKY - Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 | 8:30 p.m. ET | Lexington, Ky. | Rupp Arena (20,500)


Line: UT -1.5
O/U: 158.5

TV: ESPN / Watch
Radio: Vol Network / Listen / Live Stats
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM: 81
Online: WatchESPN.com

Kensucky Game Notes

 

[YankeeVol]

THE MATCHUP

• Prior to going 0-2 last year, Tennessee was 10-7 versus Kentucky in Rick Barnes' first seven seasons, notching at least one win each year and two apeice in 2021-22, 2018-19 and 2017-18.
• UT's 10 wins over Kentucky since 2015-16 are four more than any other team (Auburn and Kansas with six). It is 9-5 against ranked Wildcat teams; Kansas (five) has the second-most such victories.
• The Volunteers are 6-1 against top-10 Kentucky teams under Barnes. They are also 6-2 with both teams in the AP top 25 and 3-1 with each in the AP top 10.
• In the 22 seasons before Barnes' arrival (1993-2015), UT went 9-35 against the Wildcats, including 7-28 when they were ranked and 2-21 when they were in the top 10.
• After finishing 22-12 (12-6) and reaching the NCAA Tournament, Round of 32, Kentucky was picked fourth in the SEC preseason poll.
• Fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves, one of three SEC players on the Wooden Award Midseason Late Season Top 20 Watch List, paces the Wildcats with 19.5 ppg.

 

[YankeeVol]

NEWS & NOTES

• John Calipari (805) and Rick Barnes (794) are the two active winningest DI head coaches. They join Kansas' Bill Self (789) as the only active coaches in the top 20 all-time list, which is on Page 19.
• Barnes (27) and Calipari (20) rank first and fifth, respectively, among active DI coaches in NCAA Tournament berths and together own 47. The other 12 current SEC head coaches combine for 53.
• Barnes and Calipari have met 23 times, with Barnes going 12-11. He is 10-9 in the regular season.
• UT is 7-3 in its last 10 games versus top-10 foes, with Zakai Zeigler averaging 13.1 ppg in the wins and 8.7 ppg in the losses.
• The Vols are 6-5 in AP top-10 matchups under Rick Barnes.
• In the last three contests, Santiago Vescovi is averaging 10.7 ppg and shooting 37.5% on threes. In the prior three games, he totaled 10 points and shot 22.2% from deep.
• Dalton Knecht is averaging 33.7 ppg in three outings with Jimmy Dykes as the TV analyst, including posting the top two scoring tallies of his career (39 and 37).

 

[YankeeVol]

DOMINANT DK

• Dalton Knecht, the SEC scoring leader (20.1), has 191 points in the last six games. The only other Power Six players to do that in the last decade are Markus Howard (2019-20 & 2018-19) and Trae Young (2017-18).
• Knecht is averaging 17.1 points per half over the last 11 frames, with 188 total in that span. He had 11- plus in 10 of the 11, including 16- plus in eight and 20-plus in four.
• In five road games at UT, Knecht is averaging 31.4 ppg while shooting 61.5 percent overall and 47.2 percent from deep. He scored 24- plus all five times, becoming the third Power Six player in the last 14 seasons (2010-24) with five straight 24-point road outings, joining Myles Powell (2019-20) and Buddy Hield (2015-16).
• Knecht is the first Vol ever with 30-plus four times in five games and the first SEC player to do so since Devan Downey (2009-10).
• The only other Power Six players in the last decade with 67 made field goals in a six-game stretch are NPOYs Luka Garza (2020-21) and Zion Williamson (2018-19).

 

[YankeeVol]

QUALITY COMPANY

• Tennessee, Arizona, Kansas and Purdue are the only four teams to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the past three seasons (2021-24).
• In addition, Tennessee, Baylor, Houston and Kansas are the only four schools ranked in the AP top six each of the past four years (2020-24).
• UT is one of only six teams to reach the AP top six in four of the last six seasons (2018-24), joining Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas (all six) and Kentucky. Those are six of the only 10 schools in the AP top five in at least four of the past six years, alongside Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Virginia.
• The Vols are one of only 12 teams to earn an AP top- two ranking in at least two of the past six seasons. The others are Arizona, Baylor (three), Connecticut, Duke (four), Gonzaga (five), Kansas (four), Kentucky, Michigan, Purdue, UCLA and Virginia.

 

[YankeeVol]

RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES

• Over the past four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee leads all SEC teams in AP top-25 wins with 17, good for co-seventh nationally. It is also tied with Arkansas for first among SEC schools in AP top-10 victories with seven, placing co-seventh nationally. UT's five AP top-five wins in that span pace the SEC and are tied for the most of any team in America.
• The seven AP top-10 triumphs during that time are: #1 Alabama (2/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (2/26/22), #4 Kentucky (2/15/22), #5 Kentucky (3/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21) and #10 Texas (1/28/23).
• Over the last four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee has played a league-high 31 games against AP Top 25 opponents, going 17-14 (.548). The Vols are the only SEC team, regardless of number of games, with a winning record against ranked foes during that span, while Alabama is second at 14-16 (.467).
• Tennessee (31), Alabama (30), Arkansas (30) and Missouri (26) are the only SEC teams to play over 25 ranked foes since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I don’t think I could stomach 3 straight losses to Kentucky. Please win. Crush their soul.

 

[Volprofch05]

Gameday! Time to show these fools!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Earlier in the week I thought that the game was scheduled an hour or two earlier and Duke/UNC wasn’t in a prime spot. Maybe the blue bloods whined about it and ESPN accommodated those historically cheating programs.

 

[vols 30]

The South Carolina game has diminished my excitement for this game a little. Playing up there, the refs influenced by the blue hairs, and expecting a couple of guys to step up to help out DK is asking a lot for a win.

Aiddo, ZZ, and/or Vescovi need to show. Don't expect much from JJJ, but then again I never do from him

 

[sami]

Bang the big freshman early and chase them off the 3 pt. line like we did against Alabama. They live on running and spamming 3's, so transition defense will be paramount. Mashack and SV will be huge tonight, and hopefully we don't get a repeat of the SC officiating.

Offensively, get back to the ball movement and high P&R stuff with DK and Aidoo, don't get stuck in late shot-clock iso ball. I'd love to see JJJ get downhill and into the paint, where his short jumpers can be deadly, instead of sitting at the 3 pt. line. ZZ needs to get back on track as well, this can't be DK-or-bust.

As long as we can limit big runs and 3's, and keep the crowd out of the game, I see a single-digit win for us tonight.

 

[BigOrangeFanatic]

A win tonight in my mind erases Tuesday night in a number of ways, it shows Tuesday was just a terrible performance, an off night, etc. But it gets us back into a good spot for seeing and the SEC race as well.



That said, I think we are all gonna be frustrated again tonight. There is no way I take us if bettimg on the game. UK hasn't been great lately. But they will absolutely get up for this game. They will certainly have the stripes on their side. Gonna be interesting to see how we respond. Gotta have some other guys step up tonight if we want to stay within striking distance. The key will be weathering the storm early.

 

[CAVPUT]

The South Carolina game has diminished my excitement for this game a little. Playing up there, the refs influenced by the blue hairs, and expecting a couple of guys to step up to help out DK is asking a lot for a win.

Aiddo, ZZ, and/or Vescovi need to show. Don't expect much from JJJ, but then again I never do from him

Yep. He is what he is. I know guys can't be "on" every game, but these extended disappearing acts just boggle the mind. Going on the road in an environment like Rupp is tough. Not to say they'll both be on tonight, but the only 2 guys who appear to have that dawg in 'em are ZZ and Knecht. Everyone else is a crap shoot.

 

[CAVPUT]

Bang the big freshman early and chase them off the 3 pt. line like we did against Alabama. They live on running and spamming 3's, so transition defense will be paramount. Mashack and SV will be huge tonight, and hopefully we don't get a repeat of the SC officiating.

Dude.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

A win tonight in my mind erases Tuesday night in a number of ways, it shows Tuesday was just a terrible performance, an off night, etc. But it gets us back into a good spot for seeing and the SEC race as well.



That said, I think we are all gonna be frustrated again tonight. There is no way I take us if bettimg on the game. UK hasn't been great lately. But they will absolutely get up for this game. They will certainly have the stripes on their side. Gonna be interesting to see how we respond. Gotta have some other guys step up tonight if we want to stay within striking distance. The key will be weathering the storm early.

UK always gets up for TN. We’ve won a lot of close games, but rarely does UK ever play poorly against us. We always can expect to get one of their best performances. I trust our defense to slow down their offense to a certain degree. What I don’t trust, and need to see tonight, is this offense being more than just Knecht. We are going to need to score 80+ to win I think. Other players need to step up.

 

[Volfan1000]

We need a 10 to 15 point game from JJJ to potentially beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena tonight.

 

[CAVPUT]

UK always gets up for TN. We’ve won a lot of close games, but rarely does UK ever play poorly against us. We always can expect to get one of their best performances. I trust our defense to slow down their offense to a certain degree. What I don’t trust, and need to see tonight, is this offense being more than just Knecht. We are going to need to score 80+ to win I think. Other players need to step up.

And this is where my confidence evaporates.

 

[BigOrangeFanatic]

We need a 10 to 15 point game from JJJ to potentially beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena tonight.

Not necessarily. We need his defense and rebounding though. We just can't have another dud from ZZ, Aidoo and Gainey like against USCe. Santi has to contribute too. Gainey is the one that could take us from being solid offensively to being very hard to stop. When he's able to shoot from the outside and drive the ball like we've seen at times, we become so much more versatile and it allows to not drop off that much when DK is on the bench.

 

[camp_steveo]

The other Vols can't sit back and watch the DK show if they want to be a serious team.

LFG!

 

[GoVols9800]

QUALITY COMPANY

• Tennessee, Arizona, Kansas and Purdue are the only four teams to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the past three seasons (2021-24).
• In addition, Tennessee, Baylor, Houston and Kansas are the only four schools ranked in the AP top six each of the past four years (2020-24).
• UT is one of only six teams to reach the AP top six in four of the last six seasons (2018-24), joining Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas (all six) and Kentucky. Those are six of the only 10 schools in the AP top five in at least four of the past six years, alongside Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Virginia.
• The Vols are one of only 12 teams to earn an AP top- two ranking in at least two of the past six seasons. The others are Arizona, Baylor (three), Connecticut, Duke (four), Gonzaga (five), Kansas (four), Kentucky, Michigan, Purdue, UCLA and Virginia.

Yet we have a lot of “basketball experts” in here that think we need a new coach. CRB has taken us to places we have never been in the history of our program. Sure, I’d like to win more in March but every year we can count on an exciting season with lots of quality air time on espn and national attention. We run a clean program with quality student athletes. I’ll take that all day. Go Vols!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Jerry Green was a train wreck at UT, but he did pull off the win at Rupp in 1999 after 19 straight losses there. For doing that he deserved a Kmart gift card.

Barnes is the ONLY UT coach with multiple wins at Rupp Arena.

 

[volinbama256]

Didn't someone post that kY will have one or two starters potentially out with injuries?

We have the talent and depth... but once again, every year, every game, will it show up or not?

 

[hjeagle1vol]

Tennessee v NCAA + SEC Refs + Calipari+Night Game @ Rupp - Non-DK vol points = Bet the house on Kentucky

…but I couldn’t do it I’m in on a crisp team performance with my $$$
Let’s bring down the house - Go Vols!’

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Didn't someone post that kY will have one or two starters potentially out with injuries?

We have the talent and depth... but once again, every year, every game, will it show up or not?

I think it’s 3. Wagner and Edwards missed the UF game. Thiero was injured in the UF game.

 

[fear]

interesting stat