Five things you need to know from No. 15 Kentucky’s 75-64 upset of No. 5 Tennessee
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Game day: No. 15 Kentucky 75, No. 5 Tennessee 64
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Tennessee in Rupp Arena.
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Five things you need to know from No. 15 Kentucky’s 75-64 win over No. 5 Tennessee in SEC men’s basketball:
1. An absolute gut check win for UK. Kentucky entered Tuesday night’s game without starting wing Jaxson Robinson due to a wrist injury.
With the Wildcats clinging to a 54-52 edge, UK lost Lamont Butler with 8:40 left in the game when the Kentucky point guard appeared to reinjure his left shoulder after diving to the floor in pursuit of a potential steal.
After Butler was injured, a loud groan emitted from the Rupp Arena crowd filled the venue.
At that point, with UK down two of its core players, the odds of Kentucky vanquishing Tennessee appeared remote.
Instead, the remaining Cats refused to buckle.
After Tennessee took a 58-55 lead, Kentucky proceeded to outscore the Volunteers 20-6 down the stretch.
It was, to use a horrid coaching cliché, a total team effort for UK with the game in the balance.
Six Wildcats accounted for the 20 points of that game-ending run.
Ansley Almonor converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Koby Brea drained a 3-point shot. Amari Williams scored in the paint. Trent Noah hit two free throws. Brea cashed another trey. Brea then hit a cutting Otega Oweh for a dunk. Oweh cashed two clutch free throws. Andrew Carr hit a pair of foul shots. And Oweh hit the first of two foul shots to complete the scoring.
UK finished the game with eight players scoring between five and 13 points (Oweh and Almonor).
2. Mark Pope, giant killer. Kentucky has now swept the season series from Tennessee.
In fact, if you look at this week’s men’s AP Top 25 poll, Kentucky has wins over both teams ranked No. 3 (Duke and Florida are tied). The Cats have two victories over No. 5 Tennessee. UK has beaten No. 8 Texas A&M. Kentucky also has a victory over No. 22 Mississippi State.
On top of that, UK has a victory over traditional power Gonzaga in Washington state.
Given Kentucky’s proficiency against the best teams and struggles against middling foes, one almost wonders if UK would be better off as a low seed than a high one.
3. Homeboys star. With the Kentucky roster depleted by injuries, homegrown freshmen Trent Noah and Travis Perry were inserted into prominent roles.
They both responded with career highs.
Noah, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Harlan County High School product, is emerging as a “Vols killer.” In UK’s 78-73 upset of UT in Knoxville last month, Noah had five vital points in the second half.
On Tuesday night, Noah dropped 11 on the Rocky Toppers. He had nine in the first half on 3-of-4 3-point shooting. With Kentucky clinging to a 63-60 edge with 3:25 left in the game, Noah went to the foul line to attempt the first two free throws of his college career — which he cashed.
Perry, the 6-1, 188-pound Lyon County High School product, hit three of four shots, two of three treys, and had eight points in 12 minutes.
For UK backers, having homegrown players come up huge in a victory over Tennessee is about as good as it gets.
4. Cats again deny Rick Barnes a milestone win. With Kentucky’s season sweep of Tennessee, UT coach Rick Barnes’ all-time record vs. UK fell to 12-14, 11-12 as Volunteers head man.
Barnes still needs one victory over the Wildcats to move into a fifth-place tie with Dean Smith (13-3) on the list of coaches with the most men’s hoops victories over Kentucky.
The top seven:
▪ Dale Brown 18-33.
▪ Billy Donovan 17-29.
▪ Bobby Knight 15-18.
▪ Roy Skinner 14-18.
▪ Dean Smith 13-3.
▪ Rick Barnes 12-14.
▪ Kevin Stallings 12-23.
5. A first-year sweep of Tennessee. The Kentucky sweep of Tennessee in 2024-25 makes Mark Pope the fourth of the past eight UK head men to beat the Volunteers in both regular-season meetings between the border rivals in his first season.
Adolph Rupp (1930-31), Eddie Sutton (1985-86) and Tubby Smith (1997-98) preceded Pope in sweeping the Rocky Toppers in their initial seasons as top Cat.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM.
