Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s gritty win against the Tennessee Volunteers
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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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Three takeaways from No. 15 Kentucky basketball’s 75-64 win against No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
1. I’ve seen grittier wins, but I can’t remember when
Think about it. Shooting guard Jaxson Robinson, Kentucky’s second-leading scorer, did not play. Out with a wrist injury. Then with 8:40 left, Lamont Butler wasn’t playing either. In his second game back after a three-game absence because of a shoulder injury, Butler fell hard on that very same shoulder. (“Torqued it,” UK coach Mark Pope said afterward.) To the locker room Butler went. He returned to the bench, but not the floor.
A minute later, Tennessee took a 56-55 lead. Two minutes later, the Vols led 58-55 and most college basketball hoopheads wouldn’t have given you much of a chance that the shorthanded Cats would pull out another win.
And yet, through defensive grit and high-level offensive execution, that’s what they did, scoring on each of their final nine possessions to complete a regular-season sweep of the Vols.
Ansley Almonor completed an and-one on a Euro-step drive to the hoop. Koby Brea hit a pair of 3-pointers and found Brandon Garrison for a jam. The Cats made seven of their eight free throws over the final 2:41.
Meanwhile, Tennessee made one field goal in the game’s final 4:48. Kentucky got defensive stop after defensive stop and every key rebound down the stretch. On grit.
“Give Kentucky credit,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “We were right where we needed to be and we couldn’t finish it.”
2. ‘Mountain Mamba’ or ‘Holler Baller’
Here’s how Trent Noah described it: “Crazy.”
After all, the 6-foot-5 freshman is from Harlan County in Eastern Kentucky. And Eastern Kentucky knows all about Tennessee, its southern neighbor with its “Go Big Orange” and its incessant playing of “Rocky Top” and its often-bitter rivalry with the northern Wildcats.
So if you think a UK-UT game means a little more to Noah you’d be right. And if you think it doesn’t get much bigger than the 11 points the freshman scored Tuesday in what turned out to be an 11-point game, you’d be right, as well.
“How about a big massive shoutout for Eastern Kentucky showing up,” Pope said afterward. “The ‘Mountain Mamba’ or ‘Holler Baller,’ which may be my favorite. Give all the credit to Trent Noah’s family and how he grew up.”
Pope explained that despite not being a featured player, Noah shows up every day in practice and competes with “full intensity.” The freshman is a sponge, the coach said. He’s also fearless.
With Robinson out, Noah nailed not one, not two, but three 3-pointers in the first half, all eliciting a roar from the Rupp crowd louder than the one before.
Meanwhile, Noah’s defense was good enough to earn a plus-minus rating of plus-18 for his 19 minutes on the floor.
So which of the two wins over the hated Volunteers was Noah’s favorite?
“I loved them both, they were both really special,” he said. “It’s cool whenever you can do it front of your home crowd. It’s cool whenever you can be the villain and leave Knoxville with the win. I’d say 50-50.”
3. This was a huge confidence-boost win
The Cats are now 17-7 overall and (more importantly) 6-5 in the brutal SEC. They are now 8-6 in Quad 1 games in the NCAA NET rankings. Tuesday was their seventh victory over a team that was in the top 15 in the AP Top 25 at the time of the game.
Get this. After shooting 50% from the floor, including 12-for-24 from behind the 3-point line, in Knoxville, Kentucky shot 50% from the floor, including an identical 12-for-24 from behind the 3-point line, in Lexington.
That was against a Tennessee defense that for both games was ranked as the best in the country, according to KenPom. And the Vols entered Tuesday’s rematch with the best statistical 3-point defense in the nation.
Meanwhile, after giving up 98 points in that 14-point loss at Ole Miss a week ago, Kentucky’s defense has been much better the last two outings. After going 11-for-45 from beyond the arc in the loss to Kentucky in Knoxville, the Vols were 3-for-18 behind the stripe on Tuesday. And down the stretch, Kentucky earned the stops it needed.
Afterward, Pope did not sound optimistic about an immediate return for Robinson or Butler. But the Cats have shown they can win shorthanded. They did it again Tuesday.
“We’ve got guys who just want to fight and compete,” Pope said. “We got ballers.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM.
