Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s NCAA Tournament loss to Tennessee
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Game day: Tennessee 78, Kentucky 65
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Friday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament at Indianapolis.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 78-65 loss to Tennessee in the Midwest Regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium.
1. Tennessee is the better team
During the Thursday press conferences, Tennessee player after player insisted that their two regular-season losses to Kentucky contained a simple explanation: “We didn’t play like ourselves in the first two games that we played them.”
Friday night, No. 2 seed Tennessee played like Tennessee. The Volunteers defense smothered the offense of No. 3 seed Kentucky. Rick Barnes’ team never allowed Mark Pope’s club to get into a flow on offense. Only a Collin Chandler 3-pointer right before the half kept the Wildcats from registering their lowest point total in a first half this season — 41-27 at Vanderbilt in what became a 74-69 loss to the Commodores.
UK made just 10 of 26 shots in the first half for 38.5%. After hitting 12 of 24 shots from 3-point range in each of the first two games against UT, the Cats were just 3-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first half. Telling stat: Kentucky was credited with just three assists on 10 made field goals in the first half.
Meanwhile, Tennessee shot an even 50% in the first 20 minutes with 16 makes on 32 shots. Point guard Zakai Zeigler managed to get to the rim on the way to 13 points, while making just one 3-point shot. And the Vols outrebounded the Cats 22-13. Center Felix Okpara grabbed seven rebounds. Telling stat: The Vols grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the first half. Kentucky manged eight defensive rebounds.
The second half brought more of the same. Kentucky played the Vols more evenly on the scoreboard but could never make much headway as far as cutting the deficit.
Bottom line: There was a reason Tennessee was favored in all three games.
2. Kentucky didn’t make many breaks
Give Kentucky credit. The Cats could have completely folded their tent in the second half, but they did not. They just couldn’t catch a break.
Example: Kentucky was trailing 53-40 with 12:18 left when Zeigler badly missed a 3-pointer with a shot clock running down. But there under the basket all alone was teammate Chaz Lanier to grab the rebound and score. Turning back to the UK bench, Pope slapped his thigh in frustration.
Next possession, Lanier buried a 3-pointer to make it Vols 58-43. Two minutes later, Kentucky committed a careless backcourt turnover. No sooner had the Cats lost the ball than Zeigler nailed a triple to extend the lead to 65-48 with 8:32 left. By that time, the Tennessee fans in the crowd could feel it.
In the losing locker room afterward, Kentucky players lamented their poor showing on the boards. Several had talked on Thursday about how rebounding would be a key. Yet Tennessee not only outrebounded Kentucky 34-23, the Vols grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to UK’s 17 defensive rebounds.
Second-chance points: Tennessee 19, Kentucky 5.
“They got too may second-chance shots,” said UK’s Chandler, who after hitting some big shots in the first two games against Tennessee was held to three points.
Koby Brea, who scored 23 points in the Cats’ second-round win over Illinois, was held to five points. He missed six of his seven shots and was just 1-for-4 from 3-point territory. Kentucky was held to a season-low 15 attempts from beyond the arc. And made six.
“They just played better defense,” UK’s Otega Oweh said. “That was all.”
3. It was still a good first step
The loss doesn’t diminish what Pope accomplished in his first season as Kentucky’s head coach. The former Kentucky captain and BYU head coach was forced to put together a team from scratch. He was forced to play in quite possibly the toughest conference in the history of the sport. He still managed to take the program to a regional semifinal for the first time since 2019.
As I’ve written before, Pope also set the tone for the future. He established an offensive identity, a strategy for roster construction and a recruiting philosophy. Friday morning, UK secured its first transfer portal commitment for 2025-26 in Tulane freshman Kam Williams, a 6-foot-8 forward who shot 41% from 3-point range in his rookie season. He appears to be just the type of player Pope wants.
The questioning appeared to be over in the postgame press conference at the podium when Lamont Butler said he had something to say. The San Diego State transfer, “LaMarch” Butler, who was considered the heart and the soul of the team playing through a shoulder injury, made a plea to future players.
Come to Kentucky, the point guard said. Come play for Coach Pope. Andrew Carr joined in at the podium, taking his thumbs to show out the name on the front of his Kentucky jersey. UK, he said, was the place to be.
“The bar is going to be set high for the next group that comes in under Pope,” Butler said. “It’s going to be fun to watch, for sure.”
“If you’re in the transfer portal and you’re looking for a spot to go, go to Kentucky,” Carr said. “I’ll tell you that much. Go to Kentucky.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 11:18 PM.
