By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Jules Camara got the opening he needed.
The 6-foot-11 forward hit a jumper from the foul line with 53 seconds left to give No. 18 Kentucky the lead for good in a 74-71 victory over Tennessee on Wednesday night.
“I was open. It was a jump shot I know I can knock down,” Camara said. “The first option was to go inside to Marquis Estill. He kicked it back out.”
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I was open. It was a jump shot I know I can knock down.
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Kentucky improved to 10-3 with the victory in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Tennessee (7-3) trailed by five with 6:27 to go, but rallied to take a 71-70 lead with 1:21 left on C.J. Watson’s breakaway layup. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.
Camara stepped back and made his jumper as Kentucky regained the lead at 72-71. The Wildcats then kept Tennessee from getting another good look at the basket.
Vols coach Buzz Peterson called two timeouts in 20 seconds to set up a potential go-ahead basket, but Thaydeus Holden missed and a foul on Brandon Crump gave the ball back to Kentucky.
Tennessee’s Ron Slay intentionally fouled Gerald Fitch, who made both foul shots with 16.5 seconds remaining to seal it.
Camara came off the bench late in the second half and made both of his jumpers to finish 4-of-5 from the field for 12 points.
“Jules Camara is a very focused kid who enjoys the game,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “He stayed in the game mentally. I thought he rose to the challenge in the second half.”
Even if Camara’s last shot wasn’t the first choice on that possession, his teammates didn’t worry when he released the ball into the air.
“Everybody has confidence in Jules, especially when he’s wide open. When he takes them, that shows he has confidence in himself,” Fitch said.
Keith Bogans, who didn’t start because he was late to a team meeting, finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for Kentucky. Fitch added 17 points.
Slay reached his SEC-leading scoring average with 22 points, and Watson finished with 15. Jon Higgins, who fouled out with 7:38 to go, added 17 on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Kentucky had 13 turnovers and never really had control of the game but dominated on the boards 35-27.
In the closely called game, Tennessee got into foul trouble early. Three players had four fouls and another had three.
“It was a well-played game, but the bottom line is you can’t put Kentucky at the free-throw line 34 times,” Peterson said. “We’ve been hitting our free throws, but we missed an awful lot of them down the stretch.”
