UK basketball put the clamps on Tennessee in second half of comeback win
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to beat No. 25 Tennessee.
- Tennessee only made six field goals in the second half of the game.
- The Volunteers missed all six of their 3-point tries in the second half of the UK win.
Kentucky basketball’s latest comeback win in a 2025-26 season that’s filling up with them was powered by a stout second-half defensive effort.
In their latest Houdini act, Mark Pope’s Wildcats rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to topple No. 25 Tennessee 74-71 on Saturday night inside Rupp Arena.
It was the second time in less than a month the Cats erased a double-digit halftime deficit to claim victory over their border rival.
And on Saturday, UK did so with defense.
The Volunteers made just six of their 30 shots from the field in the second half. Rick Barnes’ ballclub missed all six of its 3-point tries in the second period. After the break, the Vols scored only 24 points and averaged just 0.800 points per possession.
This came after Tennessee made 17 of its 32 shots from the field in the first half, including eight 3-pointers. In building its 14-point halftime advantage, Tennessee operated at a 1.382 points-per-possession clip and scored 47 points.
“We weren’t very good in the first half. We were not good,” Pope said, underselling things. “We were giving up open 3s. We died in every gap in the first half, it was really frustrating.”
What changed on Kentucky’s end to engineer this turnaround?
Freshman forward Nate Ament — a former recruiting target of Pope’s and a projected lottery pick in this summer’s NBA draft — carried Tennessee with 29 points Saturday, matching his career best. Ament had 19 first-half points and 10 more after the break. But UK successfully implemented halftime adjustments against senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who scored 14 points in the first half and just one in the second half.
Over the final 20 minutes, Gillespie missed all six of his shots. He also went from four assists in the first half to none in the second period.
“I think we got lackadaisical on defense (in the first half) a little bit. We gave up a lot of corner 3s,” UK freshman center Malachi Moreno said after grabbing four defensive rebounds and recording two blocks in the second half. “So I think just coming out in the second half, it was just really paying attention to details and really cutting off the two main scorers in Gillespie and Ament. Just make the other guys make a play.”
“Obviously, the way we made shots in the first half, you knew they were going to put more emphasis on the perimeter with Ja’Kobi and Nate,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “We were getting what we wanted in the middle with ball screens. We just didn’t finish it.”
Tennessee’s 24 second-half points rank as the third-fewest fewest UK has allowed in 34 halves this season against high-major competition.
The Wildcats also put the clamps on Indiana (21 points) in the second half of a December home win. Ole Miss only managed 23 points in the first half of its loss at Rupp Arena last month.
At the close of play Saturday, Pope’s team ranked 30th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. That’s a real improvement over Pope’s first UK squad, which often struggled on that end of the floor before rallying to finish 51st in the nation in that metric.
In securing its fifth-straight regular season win over Tennessee — four of which have come under Pope’s direction — Kentucky’s defensive performance in the second half included forcing seven Volunteer turnovers.
“We had a couple turnovers at the absolute worst time you could have it,” Barnes said.
Kentucky’s defensive masterclass in the second half also helped atone for the dominant night Tennessee enjoyed on the glass. For the game, Tennessee outrebounded UK by a gaudy 46-31 margin. In particular, the Volunteers had their way on the offensive glass, collecting 19 offensive boards to UK’s eight.
Despite this, the Cats won second-chance points by a slim 14-12 mark.
“Our post guys need to score some for us,” Barnes said of his Volunteers.
UK also dominated points in the paint, 44-24.
Those stats may make for curious reading. But in a game decided by just three points, there’s nothing confusing about the way UK altered Tennessee’s offensive flow in the second half. After entering halftime shooting 53.1% from the field, Tennessee ultimately shot just 37.1% on field-goal tries for the game.
That met a specific internal benchmark Pope and the Wildcats strive for, and it was enough to lift the hosts to their eighth victory in nine contests.
“To take this (Tennessee team) — this is a terrific offensive team with elite-level talent — and hold them to 37% from the field, is a major accomplishment,” Pope said, explaining that UK’s goal is to hold opponents to 39% shooting from the field for a game.
“... We haven't had a ton of success at that. That’s a pretty ambitious goal, but when you hold a team to 37% you’re going to win most times.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2026 at 1:30 AM.
