Even Tennessee’s players agreed: ‘Kentucky was totally kicking our butt.’
The verdict among Tennessee’s players was unanimous following Saturday night’s game.
What started as a clash of top five teams — the No. 1-ranked Volunteers and the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats — quickly turned into an old-fashioned butt whoopin’, and there was nothing the Vols could do about it.
After UK’s 86-69 victory in front of a raucous Rupp Arena crowd, there was much talk of backsides being beaten.
“Honestly, they just kicked our butts. That just is what it is,” said UT senior Admiral Schofield.
“It’s a bit embarrassing. … They definitely kicked our butt this game,” added junior guard Jordan Bone.
UK, coming off a controversial home loss to Louisiana State earlier in the week, largely controlled the first half against the top-ranked Volunteers, then pretty much put them away for good with a 14-0 run to start the second. By that time, the Cats’ advantage had ballooned to 51-31, and the tone had been set. This UK team, on this night, was simply the better bunch.
“I mean, look at those stat sheets,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “They dominated us in every way we could have been dominated.”
The Cats owned the boards — evidenced by a 39-26 rebounding advantage — and nearly doubled Tennessee’s points in the paint, 36-20.
The stat sheet wasn’t necessary to anyone watching and keeping track of toughness points. UK often beat Tennessee on 50/50 balls. PJ Washington owned the paint offensively. Reid Travis bullied the Vols’ bigs. Even Tyler Herro — a 6-foot-5 guard — corralled 13 rebounds.
“Tonight, we weren’t Tennessee tough. And Kentucky was totally kicking our butt,” Schofield said. “On the glass. Driving. Scoring the ball. Defense. Everything. And, you know what, Coach Cal did a great job. And I know he was probably telling those guys exactly what we did to them last year, how we out-toughed them, how we out-physicaled them, that we came to play.
“That team was very hungry. And when you’re on the top of the pedestal, sometimes it’s easy to lose that hunger. We haven’t lost the hunger. We just didn’t come to play tonight.”
A year ago, in the first of three meetings between these teams, it was Tennessee that came out firing, winning that matchup by 11 points in Knoxville before winning again in Rupp and finally losing to the Cats in the SEC Tournament.
This time, it was UK dominating on its home floor. And, this time, the Cats did it against a team that came to Lexington with a 23-1 record, an 11-0 showing in league play and the No. 1 ranking in the country.
“We were just allowing them to bully us,” said reigning SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams. “They just out-physicaled us tonight, and that’s not our identity. We’ve always been the toughest team. And for that to happen shows we were phonies tonight. We weren’t who we are.”
Bullying the bullies was exactly what the Cats wanted to do, said Washington, who used a size advantage and his deceptive length to dominate offensively, scoring 23 points by imposing his will in the paint. He said the team’s confidence started with rebounding — he had five boards — spread to defensive intensity, and swelled from there.
“That was our game plan,” he said of his play-tough approach. “We felt like they’re a really tough team, obviously. They usually bully people, so we just tried to go out there and bully them. I feel like we did a good job of it.
“Tonight, we showed for all 40 minutes that we can play tough and we can play with some of the best teams in the country.”
In two short weeks, these two teams will meet again. The next time it’ll be on Tennessee’s home court, likely against an equally rabid home crowd, and surely against a Vols’ team looking to prove that what happened Saturday night in Lexington was a fluke.
Toward the end of this game, UK students sitting behind the Wildcats’ bench started a loud “Overrated!” chant in the Vols’ direction. John Calipari quickly put an end to it, turning around and waving his arms in a knock-it-off motion, yelling for the kids to “Stop!”
The Cats won this round. The Vols are looking forward to the next one.
“They came out and they played like they wanted to beat our butt. And they did,” Schofield said. “They out-physicaled us. And there’s nothing we could do about it. All we can do is go to the drawing board, fix it, and get better.”
He paused for a moment, before adding: “But they gotta come to Knoxville.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2019 at 1:07 AM.
