KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Lofton scored 23 points and Duke Crews added 18 to help Tennessee upset No. 20 Kentucky 89-85 on Tuesday night.

The Volunteers (18-8, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) had plenty of motivation with the school’s big promotion of the game – “Paint the Town Orange” – and a halftime ceremony to retire No. 53 worn by former All-American and NBA All-Star Bernard King.

Not to mention the opponent was border rival Kentucky (18-7, 7-4), which as usual had its share of Big Blue fans who made the trip to Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, again wearing the blinding orange blazer, has said the Vols need to make the Kentucky series more even.

The Wildcats had won 10 of 11 against Tennessee and four straight in Knoxville. Kentucky won this year’s earlier meeting in Lexington 76-57, but Lofton didn’t play in that game because of a sprained right ankle.

The SEC’s leading scorer made a difference this time when the Vols had a key 15-5 run in the first half that gave them the lead for good.

But Kentucky didn’t go away and set up a dramatic finish. After Tennessee pushed its lead to 16 with 16:38 left, the Wildcats kept chipping away.

A 7-0 run by Kentucky cut it to 70-68 with 6:22 left. The Wildcats trimmed it to one point twice after that and finally tied it at 77 with 3:54 to go, but the Vols didn’t give up the lead.

Lofton went 5-of-6 at the foul line in the final 29.5 seconds to ice the game.

Wayne Chism added 16 points and Ramar Smith had 10 for Tennessee.

Kentucky was led by Joe Crawford with 24 points while Ramel Bradley and Randolph Morris each added 14 and Jodie Meeks had 10. Morris also grabbed 12 rebounds.

The game was even most of the first half until Tennessee got hot from the outside, hitting five 3-pointers in a 15-5 run that broke a tie and ended up putting the Vols ahead 36-26 with 3:28 remaining before the break. Kentucky coach Tubby Smith immediately called timeout and took his jacket off.

Lofton and Jordan Howell each had two and Ryan Childress had another 3 during the spurt.

Tennessee was ahead 30-40 at halftime.

Lofton, a native of Maysville, Ky., has had big games against the Wildcats. He was 6-of-14 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free throw line.

Kentucky finished with 19 turnovers but outrebounded Tennessee 39-27 and shot 56 percent from the field (31-of-55).

The Vols improved to 14-0 at home against one of the toughest road teams in the league.

Kentucky lost 64-61 to top-ranked Florida on Saturday, but came to a place Tuesday where the Wildcats have had success recently.

Kentucky had won four straight in Knoxville since 2002 and swept Tennessee the three seasons before last year when they split the series.