No. 12 Kentucky Wins at No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday
No. 12 Kentucky placed five players in double figures and the Cats upset eighth-ranked Tennessee 78-73 on Tuesday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
Koby Brea led the Cats with 18 points, making all three of his three-point attempts. Jaxson Robinson, who started at point guard, had 17 points and made four threes. Otega Oweh had 14 points and six rebounds, while Ansley Almonor made four threes on his way to 12 points. Amari Williams had a double-double with 10 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Williams also had a team-high four assists.
The Cats, who played without starter Lamont Butler and saw another starter, Andrew Carr, play just two minutes, made half of their three-point shots in the game, connecting on 12 of 24. Meanwhile, Tennessee made 11 threes on 45 attempts.
Kentucky (15-5, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) scored the first points of the game on a Brea three, but the Vols answered with a three of their own. A pair of Robinson threes gave UK a 9-3 lead early. After a UT free throw, Almonor hit the Cats’ fourth three of the game, and UK led 12-4.
Tennessee (17-4, 4-4) scored the next three points before an Oweh free throw made it 13-7. After UT scored, Oweh drove to the basket for a layup, giving the Cats a 15-9 lead. Tennessee would score the next four points, getting within two, 15-13.
The Cats answered with threes from Robinson then Almonor, extending the lead to 21-13. After a Tennessee three, Robinson hit a mid-range jumper and the Cats led 23-16. Four consecutive UT free throws got the Vols within three before Almonor hit another three, making it 26-20 Cats.
A Tennessee layup was followed by a Brandon Garrison dunk, giving the Cats a 28-22 advantage. Brea followed with a dunk of his own to make it 30-22. However, the Vols scored the final 11 points of the half to lead 33-30 at the break.
Kentucky scored the first points of the second half on a Brea basket, then an Oweh dunk that gave the Cats a 34-33 lead. A Williams free throw made it 35-33 before Tennessee tied the game at 35 apiece. Almonor connected on his fourth three-pointer of the game to give UK a 38-35 lead.
A Brea three extended the lead to 41-35. Tennessee would get within three, 45-42, before a Williams basket and a Robinson three made it 50-42 and forced at UT timeout.
The Vols scored out of the timeout, but UK answered with a bucket by Robinson and a three from freshman Trent Noah to extend the lead to 55-44. After two UT free throws, Oweh scored on a putback, giving the Cats a 57-46 advantage.
Tennessee scored the next five points before at Oweh free throw made it 58-51. UT scored to cut the UK lead to five before a Williams tip-in extended the lead to 60-53. Brea was fouled shooting a three and he made two of three at the line, stretching the lead to 62-53 with 8:03 to play.
UT got a three to get within six before Noah broke loose underneath for a layup, making it 64-56. A Brea free throw gave UK a 65-56 lead. After a UT bucket, Oweh drove baseline for a monster dunk, giving the Cats a 67-58 lead with 6:18 remaining.
After a Tennessee layup, Williams made one of two at the line, giving the Cats a 68-60 lead. After the Vols hit a three, Brea answered with a triple of his own, making it 71-63. Tennessee scored the next five points to get within three.
Brea made two free throws, giving the Cats a 73-68 lead. From there, neither team scored for over two minutes, a streak that ended with a pair of Tennessee free throws with 1:06 to play. Four seconds later, Robinson made one of two at the line, extending the lead to 74-70. UT hit a three with 31 seconds left to get within one, 74-73.
Oweh was fouled with 25.3 seconds left, and he made both charity tosses to give the Cats a 76-73 advantage. UT had a three-point attempt to tie the game, but the shot missed and the Cats got the ball. Oweh hit a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds left to seal the victory.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, hosting Arkansas, and former UK head coach John Calipari inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.
