Here’s how Kentucky-Tennessee could look with Reid Travis or without him
Kentucky Coach John Calipari did not rule out the possibility of Reid Travis playing at Tennessee on Saturday. If Travis plays, his return from a sprained knee would be well timed.
“Knowing we don’t have Reid, they’re going to try to bully,” point guard Ashton Hagans said of the Vols on Friday. “But we’re not going to go for that.”
Of course, Kentucky would prefer not to go for that with Travis as part of the resistance. Calipari continued to credit Travis with playing a key role in UK’s 86-69 victory over the Vols two Saturdays ago.
Led by Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, Tennessee has a reputation for physical play. But Travis matched the Vols muscle for muscle.
“Reid was unbelievable in keeping an eye on Williams defensively,” Calipari said. “Never really lost him. And he still blocked shots (two in all). Are we capable of doing that with the guys we’ve got? I don’t know. We’re going to see.”
When asked what he wanted to take from the first game and apply to the rematch, Calipari quipped, “Get Reid healthy.”
The UK coach added that he was not merely trying to be humorous. Kentucky planned to test Travis’ availability by putting him through practices Friday and Saturday morning.
“But I doubt it,” Calipari said of Travis playing. “What kids try to do is convince you that they can do this.”
Kentucky, 24-4 overall and tied with Tennessee and LSU for first place in the Southeastern Conference at 13-2, must look beyond one game, albeit an important game, Calipari said. He meant the NCAA Tournament, which is less than three weeks away.
“My whole thing is this is about the long run,” Calipari said. “Not the short season.”
Of course, Travis sprained his right knee at Missouri on Feb. 19. UK estimated that he would be sidelined two weeks or longer. The player’s father, Nate Travis, said his son had targeted a return for UK’s Senior Day game against Florida on March 9.
As has been the case previously, UK said EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards would be asked to fill in for Travis.
Calipari went so far as to say, “Maybe EJ’s got to be the rough-house guy.” Previously, the UK coach put this onus on PJ Washington. Montgomery has been thought of as a highly talented freshman who had to adjust to the more physical nature of college basketball.
Kentucky players credited physical play as a key to the victory over Tennessee two weeks ago.
“We were the aggressor that game,” Hagans said.
When asked if how thoroughly Kentucky whipped Tennessee in the first game came as a surprise, Washington said, “It was our game plan to be the more aggressive team. And we came out really aggressive at the beginning of the game and just kept that pace the whole 40 minutes.”
After Wednesday’s win at Ole Miss, Tennessee’s players already had the rematch with Kentucky on their minds.
UT swingman Schofield happened to walk by as reporters spoke to Williams. Schofield reportedly said, “Hopefully we aren’t scared of PJ.”
A report by GoVols247 Sports suggested a postgame comment by Tyler Herro after the first UK-UT matchup prompted Schofield’s remark.
“I think they’re scared of him, honestly,” Herro said, according to the website. “Scared of PJ. I think a lot of people are scared now that he’s scoring like he is and doing what he’s doing.”
On Friday, Washington dismissed the notion of Tennessee players being fearful of him with a smile.
Washington anticipated defending Williams in a matchup of SEC Player of the Year candidates. “I’m pretty sure I will,” he said.
The UK player outlined the tack he would take in defending Williams.
“On the defensive end, you’ve got to be physical,” he said. “Not let him catch the ball. And when he does catch the ball, you’ve got to play him early. Keep a hand up.”
Washington did not disagree with the prevalent opinion that length bothers Williams and Tennessee.
“Our game plan was to go up and contest all their shots,” he said of the first game. “We felt like if we didn’t contest it, (the shot) was going down.”
Washington boiled the game down to a physical contest that Travis’ return could augment.
“We have to be the tougher team,” he said. “And I feel the tougher team wins that game.”
Saturday
No. 4 Kentucky at No. 7 Tennessee
When: 2 p.m.
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 24-4 (13-2 SEC), Tennessee 25-3 (13-2)
Series: Kentucky leads 155-71
Last meeting: Kentucky won 86-69 on Feb. 16, 2019, in Rupp Arena.
