Big Blue Preview: Kentucky at Tennessee
On Wednesday night, Kentucky sophomore Andrija Jelavic earned his first career start. And the big man from Croatia responded with one of his best games of the season.
Jelavic played 21 minutes, tied his season high with 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. This after not playing at all in four games this season. However, even when he wasn’t on the floor, Jelavic did not lose confidence in his game.
“I knew that even when I was not playing, I knew that it’s not because I’m a bad player,” he said. “It’s just because the situation is like that. Maybe some other players stepped up in that moment. We won some games and coach didn’t want to change the winning roster that was currently playing. I knew my chance was going to come and I was going to take it.”
Jelavic came to Kentucky as a European big who could shoot the outside shot. However, he has struggled at times this year to see the ball go through the net. On Wednesday, Jelavic hit 2 of 4 from behind the arc and he admitted that it was good to see shots go in.
“It felt really great,” Jelavic said. “II feel really confident in my shot and I think it will be able to drop.”
Kentucky plays is second consecutive road game on Saturday, visiting Knoxville to take on No. 24 Tennessee (noon ET, ESPN). With point guard Jaland Lowe out for the season, and with the status of big man Jayden Quaintance up in the air, Jelavic will once again have an opportunity to step up for the Cats. And as he proved on Wednesday night at LSU, he is prepared for that challenge.
Know Your Opponent: Tennessee
Kentucky returns to the road for a matchup with its border-state rival in Tennessee:
• Kentucky leads the all-time series, 163-79, and is 60-53 in Knoxville. UK has won three straight in Knoxville, including a 78-73 upset win a season ago
• Last year’s meeting in Knoxville, Koby Brea scored 18 points and Jaxson Robinson had 17. The Cats were without starting point guard Lamont Butler in an upset of No. 8 Tennessee. The Cats connected on 50% of their 3s, making 12 of 24
• Seventeen years ago this week, Jodie Meeks set the UK single-game scoring record against the Vols in Knoxville. Meeks poured in 54 points and made 10 3-pointers on Jan. 13, 2009
• The most points UK has ever scored in the series came on Jan. 15, 2022 in a 107-79 triumph in Lexington. Earlier that day former head coach Joe B. Hall died at the age of 83. UK began the game by paying homage to Hall’s famous 1-3-1 zone
• The Volunteers are 12-5 overall and 2-2 in league play. Tennessee earned an 87-82 double-overtime win over Texas A&M on Tuesday
• Ja’Kobi Gillespie is averaging 18.2 points per game and has made 47 3-pointers to lead the Vols. Nate Amet is posting 15.4 points and a team-high-tying 6.4 rebounds per outing
• Tennessee once again has one of the nation’s most stout defense’s ranking 11th in the Jan. 15th KenPom rankings
Last Time Out
Behind a magical finish from Malachi Moreno, Kentucky erased an 18-point second-half deficit to rally for a 75-74 win at LSU on Wednesday:
• It wasn’t quite the Mardi Gras Miracle – when Kentucky rallied from a 31-point second-half deficit to win 99-95 on Feb. 15, 1994 – but perhaps it is the Mardi Gras Mini-Miracle as the Wildcats came back from an 18-point second-half deficit to win 75-74
• The 18-point rally matched the largest comeback of the Coach Mark Pope era. The Wildcats trailed by 18 last year vs. Gonzaga before rallying for a 90-89 overtime win in Seattle
• Kentucky won the second half, 53-36, shooting 65.4 percent from the field and 72.7 percent (8 of 11) from 3-point land
• Kentucky led for only one minute, 10 seconds of the game
• Kentucky had fewer turnovers, 12-9, and won points off turnovers 16-11
• Kentucky shot 43.5 percent on 3-pointers, 10 of 23. UK is 5-0 this season when shooting at least 40 percent on long balls, including the last two games
• Kentucky won fast break points, 15-7. UK has won fast break points in every game this season
• Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 21 points, his fourth straight 20-point game. It is his sixth 20-point game of the season, all coming in the last eight games
• Malachi Moreno hit the game-winning jumper at the buzzer, capping his night with 10 points, a game-high eight rebounds and two steals. Moreno played the last 8:56 of the game with four fouls
• After going scoreless in the first half, Denzel Aberdeen warmed to the task in the second half with 17 points in the second stanza. He led the Wildcats in assists with four
• Making his first start at UK, Andrija Jelavic tied his season high with 11 points, his third double-figure game as a Wildcat
