UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY at TENNESSEE
THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA | KNOXVILLE, TENN.
MARCH 2, 2019
ATTENDANCE: 21,729
 
Final Score: No. 7/7 Tennessee 71, No. 4/4 Kentucky 52
               
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky falls to 24-5 overall and 13-3 in the Southeastern Conference, falling a game behind Tennessee and LSU for the league lead.
• Tennessee is now 26-3 and 14-2 in SEC play.
• Kentucky still leads the most played series in school history 155-72.
  • UK leads 54-52 in games played in Knoxville, Tennessee, but Tennessee has won four straight at Thompson-Boling Arena. That’s UK’s longest losing streak on the road to Tennessee since dropping seven straight in Knoxville from 1979 to 1985.
• UK is now 12-9 vs. Tennessee when both teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
• Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats enter the final week of the regular season, starting with a trip to Ole Miss on Tuesday. That game is slated for a 9 p.m. ET tip on ESPN.    

 
In the First Half

• Kentucky started the combination of Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington and Nick Richards for the first time this season.

  • Reid Travis missed his third straight game with a sprained right knee. His timetable for a return was at least two weeks from the injury, which occurred Feb. 19 at Missouri.
• UK jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game, featuring a slick lob pass from Herro to Richards for a dunk followed by a Hagans 3-pointer.
• Tennessee answered with a 9-0 run that lasted 3:15 of game time. Richards ended it with a free throw.
• The Volunteers pulled in front 28-18 on a 9-0 run from the 8:38 mark to the 4:03 mark. Kentucky went scoreless for 4:59 until Richards hit a free throw at the 3:39 mark.
• The Wildcats dealt with foul trouble nearly all half. EJ Montgomery picked up his second foul at the 9:55 mark mark and his third at 5:00, Washington was charged with his second with 8:23 (and went to the bench for the rest of the half), Johnson got his second at 5:16, and Richards picked up No. 2 at the 2:59 mark and No. 3 at 2:17.
  • When Washington went to the bench with his second foul, the Wildcats were outscored 18-6 until halftime.
• After a Johnson floater at the 10:23 mark, Kentucky went without a field goal for 9:32 of game time until Jemarl Baker Jr. hit a 3 pointer from the left corner with 51 seconds left in the half.
• UK’s six field goals and 23.1-percent shooting were both first-half lows this season
  • The six made field goals were behind only the five made in the second half vs. Missouri on Feb. 19.
  • The 23.1 percent was a low for any half.

 
In the Second Half

• Kentucky opened with the same starting five: Hagans, Herro, Johnson, Washington and Richards.
• After falling behind by 20 points, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run – highlighted by five points from Immanuel Quickley – to cut Tennessee’s lead to 47-34. The Wildcats would never get any closer.
• UK did not score over the final 3:22 of the game.

 
Team Notes

• UK’s road winning streak was stopped at six games. It was the longest road winning streak since the magical 2014-15 season.
• Kentucky is now 5-3 vs. AP Top 25 opponents and 3-2 vs. top-10 foes.
• UK scored a season-low 52 points, four fewer than the previous low.
  • It’s the fewest points the Wildcats have scored since netting just 48 in a loss to Vanderbilt on March 15, 2013, in the SEC Tournament.
• Kentucky shot a season-low 31.8 percent.
  • That’s UK’s lowest field-goal percentage since shooting 31.5 percent at Missouri on Feb. 3, 2018.
• UK made just 14 file goals, tying the fewest field goals UK made in one game during the Calipari era (March 1, 2014 at South Carolina).
• After dominating the Volunteers 36-20 in points in the paint in the first matchup in Lexington, Kentucky scored just 10 on Saturday. Tennessee scored 28.
  • UK fell to 3-2 when getting outscored in the paint.
• It’s just the third time in 23 games UK has lost when winning the rebounding battle.

Player Notes  

• PJ Washington led UK with 13 points despite foul trouble in the first half.

  • He’s scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 game and 19 games overall.
• Nick Richards started for the third time this season and first time since Nov. 23 vs. Tennessee State. He scored eight points, hauled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
  • He’s blocked three shots in each of the past three games
  • UK dropped to 12-1 this season when Richards scores at least four points. 
• Immanuel Quickley scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting (2 of 4 from 3-point range).
  • It was his best scoring output since he scored 12 on Jan. 12 against Vanderbilt.

 
Calipari

• Calipari is 299-69 at UK, needing just one more win to become the fourth-fastest coach in NCAA Division I history to 300 wins at any school
• Calipari has a 744-200 all-time on-court record.
• Calipari fell to 57-29 vs. AP Top 25 opponents at Kentucky and 23-18 vs. the top 10.
• He is 80-52 when both opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25, including 49-25 at UK. He’s 26-17 all-time when both opponents are in the top 25 and 15-10 at UK.
• Calipari is 16-10 vs. Tennessee in his career.