Men's Basketball

Feb. 21, 2009

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery media-icon-photogallery.gif

  • Kentucky is 19-8, 8-4 in the Southeastern Conference.
  • Tennessee is 16-10 overall, 7-5 in league play.
  • Kentucky leads the series, 142-65. UK leads 85-16 in games played in Lexington .
  • This is 207 th game in the series, the second-most played series in the Southeastern Conference. Only the Mississippi State – Ole Miss series has been played more with 238 meetings.
  • Kentucky returns to action Wednesday at South Carolina . The game will be at 7 p.m. and be a live regional telecast on Raycom Sports.

First-half notes

  • UK used the starting lineup of Michael Porter, Jodie Meeks, Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson and Patrick Patterson for the 16th time this season.
  • Kentucky jumped out to a 13-0 lead.
  • Included in the opening spurt was a three-pointer by Ramon Harris, extending UK ‘s streak of 702 games making at least one three-pointer.
  • Tennessee missed its first six shots from the field and had five turnovers when the Volunteers got their first tally at the 11:55 mark on a putback by J.P. Prince.
  • The Volunteers played well on the offensive glass the remainder of the half, with 18 of their 24 first-half points coming on second-chance opportunities.
  • Kentucky led 31-24 at halftime.

Second-half notes

  • Tennessee moved within four at 33-29.
  • Kentucky took control of the game with a 28-10 run. That gave UK its biggest lead, 61-39, with 10:38 remaining.
  • UK went scoreless the next four minutes as UT got back within 14 at 61-47. The Cats got back on the board with a dunk by Patrick Patterson, pass from Darius Miller with 6:28 to play, and the Vols got no closer than 14 after that.

Team notes

  • Attendance of 24,394 is a season high and the fourth-best all-time at Rupp Arena.
  • Forty-one percent continues to be the magic defensive number for the Wildcats. Kentucky is now 17-0 this season when holding opponents to 41 percent or less from the field. Tennessee made 31.7 percent of its field goals today.
  • Kentucky shot 59.6 percent from the field, a season high for SEC games.
  • UK made 87.5 percent of its foul shots, 14 of 16. The Wildcats entered the game fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage.
  • The Wildcats did an excellent job of ball movement today with 23 assists on their 28 baskets.
  • Tennessee claimed 23 offensive rebounds and outscored UK on second-chance points, 30-10.

Individual game notes

  • After missing two games because of a sprained ankle, Patrick Patterson returned with 19 points and five rebounds.
  • Freshman Darius Miller had a career high with 17 points.
  • Made all six field goal attempts, including three three-pointers, and both foul shots.
  • Also had a career-high six assists, including the precise bullet pass to Patterson for the dunk that blunted Tennessee ‘s final run.
  • Michael Porter had nine points, all on three-pointers, tying his scoring high for an SEC game. Porter also had six assists, one shy of his career best in that category.

Related Stories

View all