No. 15 Kentucky pulled off a season sweep of No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday evening with a 75-64 win.
Very like it did two weeks in the past in a 78-73 win over the Volunteers, the Wildcats gained regardless of being shorthanded. With guard Kerr Kriisa nonetheless sidelined with a proper foot harm and guard Jaxson Robinson out with a proper wrist harm he suffered in observe, Kentucky entered the sport down two of its guards.
Senior guard Lamont Butler, who scored six factors within the sport and continued to showcase his defensive prowess with three steals, left the sport after apparently re-aggravating his left shoulder harm.
Down three of its guards, the Wildcats nonetheless discovered a technique to win with assist from two of its freshmen. Guards Travis Perry and Trent Noah mixed for 19 factors (6-of-10 FG) and hit 5 of Kentucky’s 12 threes within the sport. These two triples within the first half served as a preview of what was to come back the remainder of the sport from each gamers.
This lob from Koby Brea to Otega Oweh prolonged Kentucky’s result in 70-62 with over one minute to play.
Senior ahead Ansley Almonor and Oweh every put up a team-high 13 factors to prepared the ground on a balanced scoring evening for the Wildcats.
After a poor opening half for Tennessee, the Volunteers’ offense picked up some momentum within the second half with senior guard Zakai Zeigler (17 factors) and senior ahead Igor Milicic Jr. (16 factors, 9 rebounds) carrying a crew that solely shot 3-of-18 from deep. Of their different loss to Kentucky, Tennessee made 11-of-45 from three-point vary.
Although the Volunteers (20-5, 7-5 SEC) are second in defensive effectivity this season according to TeamRankings, their offense have to be extra constant going ahead if they’ll go on a run in March.
One space Kentucky must work on the remainder of the way in which is its rebounding. Tennessee had 33 rebounds to Kentucky’s 26, creating a number of second-chance alternatives. Nearly as good as Kentucky (17-7, 6-5 SEC) has shot from long-range this season, attacking the glass and getting its guards wholesome are essential down the stretch.
