Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s gutty 63-56 upset of No. 5 Tennessee
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Game day: Kentucky 63, No. 5 Tennessee 56
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
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Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 63-56 win over No. 5 Tennessee in SEC men’s college basketball at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville:
1. One of biggest wins of Calipari era. Given the relative struggles of recent seasons and the negativity that had engulfed the Kentucky program this season, the road upset of No. 5-ranked Tennessee is one of the most-important victories of the John Caliapri coaching era at Kentucky.
A UK team whose season seemed to be teetering on the brink goes to Knoxville and defeats a Tennessee team that had been playing like one of the nation’s best teams.
Kentucky won without its starting point guard, Sahvir Wheeler (shoulder injury) and with its other primary ball handler, Cason Wallace, handicapped by foul trouble and, perhaps, the lingering impact of the back spasms that sidelined him in Tuesday’s loss to South Carolina.
The Kentucky defense, which has been MIA for a good bit of the 2022-23 season, was stellar in Knoxville. UK limited UT to 23-of-57 shooting (the Vols helped out by missing multiple shots at the rim) and 3-of-21 on three-point attempts. The Wildcats pounded the Volunteers 43-23 in the rebounding battle.
Though Antonio Reeves (4-of-10 field goals, 2-of-6 treys, 8-of-8 free throws) and CJ Fredrick (4-of-11, 3-of-9, 2-of-2) did not hit a high percentage of shots, they kept shooting and made enough big shots to get UK across the finish line first. A vintage Oscar Tshiebwe double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) helped, as well.
From the point when Tennessee took a 43-41 lead with 9:30 left in the game, Reeves (team-high 18 points) responded by scoring nine of Kentucky’s next 12 points. Fredrick (14 points) had the other three, as Kentucky refused to buckle under adversity on the road.
At a time when Calipari was more-doubted than at any time in his UK tenure, he earns a road victory over his perennial nemesis of recent years, Rick Barnes. The win improved Calipari’s record vs. Barnes to 8-10 since the latter accepted the UT job in 2015-16.
If nothing else, the very sweet win should give Calipari and his team a chance to redirect the arc of the 2022-23 Kentucky season.
2. For once, Kentucky overcomes its bad start. Over the course of this season, Kentucky has all too often been left in the starting gate when the race started.
The Wildcats fell behind Gonzaga 19-6, UCLA 27-15, Missouri 15-5, Alabama 11-2 and South Carolina 21-6 — and went on to lose all those games.
So it was not a great sign when the Cats began Saturday’s tilt with UT by falling behind 8-0.
But rather than buckle under early duress, UK ripped off a 13-2 run that sent the message that, at last, the 2022-23 Cats were not going down without a fight.
3. Cats money at the foul line. In a game where field goals were hard to come by — Kentucky shot only 18-of-51 — the Wildcats compensated by getting to the foul line and making that count.
With Antonio Reeves (8-of-8) and Adou Thiero (4-of-4) leading the way, Kentucky drained 22 of 25 foul shots.
Of all the big games UK has lost during the Calipari era in which errant free-throw shooting played a large role, how nice was it to see the Cats claim a huge win by doing work at the foul line?
4. Cats end a discouraging streak. By stunning the No. 5 Vols, Kentucky snapped a five-game losing streak vs. teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and improved its record this season in such games to 1-3.
Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Kentucky is now 5-14 against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25.
5. Lofton’s jersey retired. Tennessee took the opportunity of facing Chris Lofton’s home-state school to retire the No. 5 jersey of the former Mason County and Volunteers star.
After leading Mason County to the 2003 Sweet Sixteen championship and a 2004 state tournament runner-up finish, Lofton was famously passed over by UK in recruiting.
Given a chance by Kentucky’s primary SEC rival, Lofton went on to score 2,131 career points, set the Tennessee record for three-pointers made (431) and was chosen the 2006-07 SEC Player of the Year.
Lofton is the fifth men’s hoops player — and second Kentuckian — to have a jersey hanging in Thompson-Boling Arena, joining Ernie Grunfeld, Bernard King, Dale Ellis and former Ballard High School star Allan Houston.
This story was originally published January 14, 2023 at 2:47 PM.
