Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s statement win at Tennessee
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Game day: No. 15 Kentucky 85, No. 4 Tennessee 81
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, Tenn.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 85-81 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday:
1. Kentucky earns a statement win
Justin Edwards got it right. Almost. The freshman forward was explaining the importance of the 15th-ranked Wildcats victory over the fourth-ranked Volunteers when he said: “This was like a statement win.”
This was a statement win. No ifs, ands or buts about it. For John Calipari’s team to come into Thompson-Boling on UT’s Senior Day, three days after the Volunteers had clinched the regular-season SEC title outright and turned the tables on the same team that handed UK an 11-point loss in Rupp Arena just a month ago, was a statement about just how far this team has come.
Were it not for that last-second loss at LSU on Feb. 21, Kentucky would have tied the Vols for the regular-season title. Better still, were it not for Tyrell Ward’s buzzer-beating 1-footer in Baton Rouge, the Cats would be riding an eight-game win streak into the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
It wasn’t just the win Saturday, but the way the Cats won. Offensively, Kentucky was the Kentucky we’ve seen all season and then some. (More on that later.) But defensively, assistant coach Chuck Martin said Friday the goal was to hold opponents under 40% shooting. And that’s what the Cats did, as the Vols ended up shooting 37.8% from the floor.
Fun fact: Kentucky is now 8-0 when holding the opposition under that 40% mark.
True, Dalton Knecht went “bonkers,” as Calipari put it, on the way to 40 points. But the Northern Colorado transfer took 29 shots (making 14) and 15 3-pointers (making six) while his teammates totaled just 41 points.
2. What more can you say about Reed Sheppard?
After he had finished his postgame press conference, Calipari was walking across a back hallway of the arena when out of nowhere came Stacey Reed Sheppard out of nowhere to give the Kentucky coach a big hug. And you better believe Calipari hugged her back.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that Stacey Reed — a former basketball star in her own right — is the wife of former UK star Jeff Sheppard and the mother of current UK star Reed Sheppard. And the star only shines brighter and brighter.
The freshman guard tied teammate Antonio Reeves for UK scoring honors with 27 points. He grabbed six rebounds. He dished five assists. He was 7-for-10 from 3-point range.
They were huge 3s, too. After a Ugonna Onyenso blocked shot on the defensive end, it was Sheppard who drained a 3-ball at the other end for a 51-39 Kentucky lead at the 14:46 mark.
It was Sheppard who drained a 3 from the left wing to give the Cats a 14-point cushion at 63-49 with 10:37 left. When Tennessee chopped the lead in half to 74-67, it was Sheppard who nailed a three a couple of ticks before the shot clock buzzer to make it 77-67 Kentucky with 2:37 remaining.
Sheppard did have four turnovers. And Calipari is on a mission to turn the freshman from a risk-taker to a more solid presence at the end of games. “He’s playing like it’s early game,” the coach said Saturday.
That’s just a coach trying to make a really, really good player even better. And if you don’t know that Reed Sheppard is one of the best college basketball players in the entire nation, then you’ve been living in a cave.
3. The SEC Tournament will sure be fun
As he always does at the end of the regular season, Calipari reiterated Saturday that he doesn’t care nearly as much about the upcoming SEC Tournament in Music City as he does about that little old tournament that follows. You know, the one where the Dance is Big.
Still, next week should be pure fire. Most of the men and women in the metrics world have place this year’s SEC basketball right there with the Big 12 and the Big East for the nation’s best leagues.
You can make a case for at least five or six teams climbing the ladder to cut down the nets on Sunday afternoon. As previously mentioned, Tennessee won the league outright. Alabama’s offense makes the Tide a threat. Auburn has the depth to win multiple games on multiple days. South Carolina’s Lamont Paris could win coach of the year honors. And despite its loss at Vanderbilt on Saturday, Florida boasts the kind of guards you want at the time of the year when guard play matters.
Kentucky? Well, Kentucky is simply playing its best basketball of the season when you want to play your best basketball of the season.
After the Cats’ 89-85 loss to Gonzaga at Rupp Arena back on Feb. 10, I wrote the Cats weren’t doing the dirty work. They weren’t guarding. They weren’t rebounding. They weren’t coming up with the 50-50 balls. Even an offense as electric as Kentucky’s offense would only take the Cats so far without those little things that win games.
Calipari’s club is now doing those things. It held Tennessee to 25% shooting in the first half Saturday. It outrebounded the Vols 41-38. There were shaky moments near the end — I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Big Orange faithful who hit the exits early were regretting their decision — but overall the Cats made the necessary plays to earn a road win over the fourth-ranked team in the nation.
That’s a good sign, no matter the tournament.
This story was originally published March 9, 2024 at 8:25 PM.
