Kentucky-Tennessee Men's Basketball Postgame Notes

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY
FEB. 3, 2024
ATTENDANCE: 20,265

Final Score: No. 5 Tennessee 103, No. 10/8 Kentucky 92

Team Records and Series Notes

Kentucky is 15-6 on the season, 5-4 in the Southeastern Conference.
Tennessee is 16-5 overall, 6-2 in league play.
UK leads the series 160-78, including 94-20 in games played in Lexington.
Next for Kentucky: Kentucky plays at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Game time is 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. CT in Nashville) and it will be televised on SEC Network.

Team Notes

Kentucky scored 92 points tonight. UK entered the game third in the nation in scoring at 88.6 points per game.
Kentucky had 17 assists and nine turnovers, an assist/turnover ratio of +1.89.

Kentucky had six blocked shots tonight. UK entered the game fifth in the nation with 6.1 blocks per game.

Since the North Carolina game on Dec. 16, the first game that UK had two of its seven-foot players available, the Wildcats have averaged 7.1 blocks per game.

Kentucky is 74-28 in bounce-back games (following losses) under Coach John Calipari, including 4-1 this season.
D.J. Wagner did not play because of injury. Kentucky has not had all players available for any game this season.

Player Notes

Rob Dillingham had a career-high 35 points, including career bests for field goals (14) and 3-pointers (six).
- It is his fourth 20-point game of the season.
Antonio Reeves had 21 points, his 11^th 20-point game of the season.
- He has landed in double figures in every game but one this season.
Reed Sheppard had 16 points and six assists.
- He has scored double figures in 15 games this season.
Ugonna Onyenso led the Wildcats in blocked shots with six while adding two points and four rebounds.

Coach John Calipari

Calipari has an 847-259 (76.6%) all-time on-court record, including 402-119 (77.2%) at Kentucky.
Calipari is 71-51 against Associated Press top-25 ranked teams while at Kentucky, including 14-15 vs. AP top-five opponents.
Calipari is 21-16 vs. Tennessee.
Calipari is now 398-130 (75.4%) all-time in conference games, including 190-64 (74.8%) in the SEC.

In the First Half

Kentucky started Reed Sheppard, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Tre Mitchell and Ugonna Onyenso for the first time.
- It is the seventh different lineup of the season and fourth straight game with a different lineup.
Aaron Bradshaw and Adou Thiero were UK’s first substitutions at the 16:36 mark.
Tennessee scored on its first three possessions to go ahead 8-0 and lengthened the lead to 19-7.
UK closed within 23-20 but UT replied with a 13-2 spurt for its largest lead at 36-22.
Dillingham led the Wildcats with 17 points, already surpassing his career-high for 3-pointers with five.
Kentucky rallied again, narrowing the margin to 46-42 at halftime.
UK is now 2-4 this season when trailing at halftime.

In the Second Half

Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
UK got the first basket of the half on a 3-pointer by Sheppard, closing within 46-45, the closest UK had been since the first possession of the game.
Tennessee responded with a 13-2 run, restoring a 12-point lead at 59-47.
Tennessee eventually had its largest lead at 16 points, 76-60.
Kentucky closed within seven points on three occasions but got no closer.

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