How No. 4 Kentucky and No. 16 Tennessee match up — with a game prediction
How the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats (21-4, 10-2 SEC) and the No. 16 Tennessee Volunteers (17-6, 8-3 SEC) match up at each position for Tuesday’s 9 p.m. men’s basketball game at Thompson-Boling Arena (capacity 21,678) in Knoxville — with a game prediction:
Small forward
▪ Kentucky’s Kellan Grady (12.1 ppg, 2 rpg, 46.9% FGs, 43.7% treys) made only six of 17 treys in UK’s wins last week over South Carolina and Florida. This followed a three-game stretch when the 6-foot-5, 205-pound super-senior had made 10 of 18 three-pointers. In Kentucky’s 107-79 demolition of Tennessee in Rupp Arena on Jan. 15, Grady, a graduate transfer from Davidson, hit five of eight shots, four of seven three-pointers, and scored 16 points.
▪ Tennessee’s Josiah Jordan-James (8.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg) has struggled with his shot in 2021-22. The 6-6, 214-pound junior from Charleston, S.C., is making 35.5% of his field-goal tries, only 29.3% (34-of-116) on three-point attempts. Jordan-James does have a history of playing well against Kentucky. He had a double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds, when the Volunteers beat the Wildcats 82-71 in Rupp Arena in 2020-21. Jordan-James had 11 points and four boards and made four of eight field goals, three of six treys, in UT’s blowout loss to UK in Rupp last month.
Advantage: Even.
Power forward
▪ UK’s Keion Brooks (11.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 49.1% FGs) had two points, one rebound and two assists in Kentucky’s 78-57 win over Florida Saturday. It snapped a stretch of five straight games in which Brooks, a 6-7, 210-pound junior, had scored in double figures. Brooks has a track record of playing well vs. Tennessee. Last season, he had two double-doubles (23 points, 11 rebounds in Lexington; 10 points, 14 boards in Knoxville) against the Rocky Toppers. The Fort Wayne, Ind., product had nine points, two rebounds and two assists vs. the Vols last month.
▪ Tennessee’s Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (3.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 48.7% FGs) moved into the starting lineup after Tennessee lost the valuable Olivier Nkamhoua (8.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 49.7% FGs) to a season-ending ankle injury suffered in its 81-57 win at South Carolina on Feb. 5. A 6-10, 246-pound freshman from Clarksville, Tenn., Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 3 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 14 minutes a game in his two contests as a starter.
Advantage: Kentucky
Center
▪ Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe (16.4 ppg, 15.3 rpg, team highs of 49 steals and 36 blocks) continues to make a robust case for National Player of the Year honors. A 6-9, 255-pound product of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tshiebwe leads the NCAA in rebounding; is tied for second in double-doubles (19); is 12th in field-goal percentage (60.22); and tied for 33rd in steals (49). In UK’s blowout of UT last month, Tshiebwe had nine points, 12 rebounds and three steals.
▪ A 7-1, 251-pound transfer from Arizona State, Tennessee’s Uros Plavsic, (4.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 61.2% FGS) replaced longtime UT staple John Fulkerson in the Volunteers’ starting lineup after “Fulky” went scoreless in the January loss at Kentucky. In his first two games as a starter, Plavsic, an Ivanjica, Serbia, product, had 13 points and seven rebounds in a win at Vandy and 12 and six in a victory over LSU. However, Plavsic has averaged only 3 ppg and 3.8 rpg in the six contests since.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Shooting guard
▪ Kentucky freshman star TyTy Washington (12.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.1 apg, 47.7% FGs) left the Wildcats’ victory over Florida on Saturday with an ankle injury and did not return. His status for Tuesday night in Knoxville was uncertain as of Monday morning. Before the latest injury, the 6-3, 197-pound Phoenix product had seemed to be getting his game back in top form (three straight double-digit-scoring performances) after suffering a prior ankle injury in UK’s loss at Auburn. In the first game vs. Tennessee, Washington dominated, scoring 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting.
▪ Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi (team-high 13.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.3 apg, 39.6% treys) has scored in double figures in 13 of the past 14 games. The 6-3, 191-pound junior from Montevideo, Uruguay, was UT’s most-effective offensive player in the loss in Rupp Arena, hitting 7-of-10 shots, 4-of-6 treys and scoring 20 points. Overall in five career contests vs. UK, Vescovi has been pretty hit-or-miss — he has scoring games of 18, four, three, two and 20 points vs. the Cats.
Advantage: Kentucky (if Washington is healthy); Tennessee (if Washington is not healthy).
Point guard
▪ Kentucky’s Sahvir Wheeler (9.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, SEC-leading 7.2 apg, 44.4% FGs, 27.8% treys) made four of seven field goals and scored nine points with six assists in Saturday’s victory over Florida. That may not sound earth-shattering, but it was a welcome bounce-back for the Georgia transfer after he went three -straight games without making a field goal (0-of-17 in that stretch). The 5-9, 180-pound junior from Houston was very good in the win over Tennessee last month, hitting eight of 10 shots and finishing with 21 points and eight assists.
▪ Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler (13.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2.4 steals) had a bit of a slog in UT’s 73-64 victory over Vanderbilt Saturday. He made only three of eight shots and finished with six points, six rebounds, two assists and four turnovers. That was an atypical showing, however, for the dynamic 6-foot, 171-pound freshman from Memphis. Chandler has scored in double figures in six of the past nine games and had a double-double, 11 points, 10 assists, in the Vols’ rout of South Carolina. Chandler hit seven of 11 shots and had 17 points, three rebounds and three assists in UT’s loss to UK last month.
Advantage: Even.
Bench
▪ Kentucky sixth man Davion Mintz (8.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 36.8% treys) could be pressed into starting duty if TyTy Washington’s ankle injury limits his availability in Knoxville. A 6-3, 195-pound super-senior and a grad transfer from Creighton, Mintz is averging 12.3 ppg over the past four contests. ... Versatile forward Jacob Toppin (5.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 57% FGs) missed the Florida game due to an ankle injury. The 6-9, 200-pound junior suffered it while playing at a stellar level (10 points, three rebounds in six minutes) during UK’s 86-76 win at South Carolina. ... Sophomore big man Lance Ware (2.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 75% FGs) is becoming a valuable “energy guy.”
▪ Tennessee super-senior John Fulkerson (7.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 54.2% FGs) has now played in 154 career contests, breaking the SEC record for most games (152) previously held by former Kentucky forward Darius Miller. A 6-9, 219-pound product of Kingsport, Tenn., Fulkerson will be playing for the 12th time against UK. ... Justin Powell (4.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg), the 6-6, 197-pound former North Oldham High School star, has not had the impact at UT most expected after his strong freshman season at Auburn. . . . . Diminutive freshman guard Zakai Zeigler (8.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.8 steals) has been one of the biggest positive surprises in the SEC. The 5-9, 167-pound Long Island, N.Y., product is averaging 13.7 ppg over the previous six contests. ... Former Oregon Duck Victor Bailey (3.1 ppg, 1 rpg) played well vs. Kentucky last season, averaging 13.5 ppg and making nine of 18 field goals, five of 11 treys. But the 6-4, 182-pound senior is another who has struggled mightily with his shot (32.1% FGs, 21.6% treys) in 2021-22.
Advantage: Tennessee.
Intangibles and history
▪ In the tradition of former Tennessee head men Ray Mears and Don DeVoe, Volunteers Coach Rick Barnes has given Kentucky fits. Since taking the UT job before the 2015-16 season, Barnes has gone 8-7 vs. the Cats. Barnes is 4-2 vs. UK in Knoxville, 3-4 in Lexington and 1-1 on neutral courts.
▪ As Kentucky coach, John Calipari is 16-10 vs. Tennessee — 9-2 before Barnes, 7-8 since.
▪ Tennessee is 13-0 in Thompson-Boling Arena in 2021-22.
▪ Kentucky has won on its past two trips to Knoxville, beating the Volunteers 77-64 in 2019-20 and 70-55 last season.
▪ Overall, UK leads the all-time series with UT 158-75.
Advantage: Tennessee.
Prediction
Kentucky 75, Tennessee 73.
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 1:44 PM.
