First Scouting Report: Can UK earn its first sweep of a Rick Barnes-coached UT team?
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Game day: No. 5 Kentucky 78, Florida 57
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s game between Kentucky and Florida in Rupp Arena.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 5 Kentucky (21-4, 10-2 SEC) will face No. 19 Tennessee (17-6, 8-3 SEC) on Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena (capacity 21,678) in Knoxville.
The game will tip off at 9 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by ESPN.
Coach Rick Barnes’ Volunteers were to play host to intrastate rival Vanderbilt on Saturday at 6 p.m. (EST).
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Tennessee 158-75 and has won the past two meetings at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Most recent meeting
Kentucky put on a sizzling display of shooting, making 38 of 56 field goals, 11 of 18 three-pointers and 20 of 21 free throws to annihilate the visiting Volunteers 107-79 on Jan. 15, 2022, at Rupp Arena.
UK’s backcourt lit up the Vols. Freshman TyTy Washington hit 10 of 13 shots and scored 28 points; junior point guard Sahvir Wheeler went 8-of-10 and had 21 points; super-senior wing Kellan Grady swished five of eight shot attempts, four of seven treys, and finished with 16 points.
The game occurred on the day that former Kentucky head coach and player Joe B. Hall died in Lexington at age 93
Power rankings
Through Thursday’s games, the NCAA’s NET Rankings had Kentucky No. 4 and Tennessee No. 10.
The Kenpom Rankings rated UK No. 3 and Tennessee No. 11.
Kentucky stood No. 6 in the Sagarin Ratings with Tennessee No. 12.
Know your foe
1. Since Rick Barnes became Tennessee head man in 2015-16, Kentucky has never swept a two-game regular-season series vs. UT.
In the same time frame, Barnes and the Vols have swept UK once, in 2017-18, winning 76-65 in Thompson-Boling and 61-59 in Rupp Arena.
Following in the footsteps of prior Tennessee head men such as Ray Mears (15-15 vs. UK) and Don DeVoe (11-12 vs. Kentucky as Vols head man) Barnes has proven to be a UK nemesis.
Barnes is 8-7 vs. Kentucky as Tennessee head man and 9-9 overall as a head coach vs. the Cats.
2. Since being run out of Rupp Arena, UT entered Saturday’s game with Vandy having gone 6-1, 6-0 in SEC contests.
In that span, the Volunteers have won at Vanderbilt (68-60), beaten LSU (64-50), beaten Florida (78-71), lost at Texas (52-51) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, beaten Texas A&M (90-80), won at South Carolina (81-57), and won at Mississippi State 72-63.
The victory at South Carolina was costly for the Vols because they lost starter Olivier Nkamhoua to a season-ending injury.
The 6-foot-8, 231-pound Nkamhoua was averaging 8.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and was UT’s best defensive big man.
3. If you are the superstitious sort, Tuesday’s contest at Tennessee is the most important game of the Kentucky season.
The reason is UK basketball history.
Of the Wildcats’ eight NCAA championship seasons — 1947-48; 1948-49; 1950-51; 1957-58; 1977-78; 1995-96; 1997-98; and 2011-12 — not one of those teams ever lost a game to Tennessee.
So for those seeking omens about the ultimate fate of the 2021-22 Kentucky basketball season, you really want to see UK silence “Rocky Top” on Tuesday night.
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 6:17 PM.
