No. 15 Kentucky summits No. 4 Tennessee basketball in Knoxville, 85-81 finish in regular season finale
By Justin Brosemer
After losing at home to SEC rival Tennessee in early February, Kentucky earned got revenge in Knoxville with dominance on both sides of the ball Saturday evening.
Kentucky (23-8, 13-5 SEC) defeated Tennessee basketball (24-7, 14-4) 85-81 for their final regular-season matchup on each of their respective schedules, leaving a sour aftertaste for what was an amazing season for the Volunteers.
A lone bright spot for the Vols night was offensive outpour from projected-first-round guard and SEC Player of the Year favorite Dalton Knecht, who put up a career-high 40 points on the night shooting 14/29 from the field. The rest of his team combined for 41 total points. Zakai Zeigler dropped 17 points and 9 assists while Jonas Aidoo added 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks of his own to the Vols’ stat sheet.
A big reason for the disappointing night for what has usually been a dominant offensive force in Thompson-Boling Arena was the versatility and hustle on Kentucky’s defensive side. Holding the Vols, who entered as a 8.5-point favorite, to just 37.8% shooting from the field, the Wildcats were able to get the win even with five players finishing the night with zero points.
The Vols’ shooting woes followed them to the charity stripe as well, finishing the night 13-for-19 from the line (68.4%). Tennessee’s struggles helped Coach Calipari and Kentucky get out of their foul trouble early in the matchup, finishing the first half with five players having two fouls or more. Tennessee was held to just six free throw attempts in the second half.
Even with Rob Dillingham having an out-of-character tough shooting night (3-8 FG), dual 27-point outings from guards Antonio Reaves and freshman Reed Sheppard (7-10 3PT) more than supplied the Blue and White with enough offense to put firmly in the lead for much of the second half. Justin Edwards (16) and Dillingham (11) both put up double-digit points in the bout as well.
Reeves' performance marks his seventh straight 20+ point game, including seven straight 20+ point finishes on the road. The senior is projected to be an All-American finalist and SEC Player of the Year candidate for his incredible play this season.
“(Reeves) is a high-level scorer,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “He does a good job getting in the right position. He's surrounded by guys who can play. They were able to get the angles on us.”
Things got contentious down the stretch thanks to the Vols storming back due in large part to Knecht’s refusal to be stopped, surging back from a 65-51 deficit in the second half to make the score 84-81 with just 31 seconds left in regulation.
Calipari and UK showed signs of giving up another big lead late in a ballgame, but their defense would prevail once more forcing two straight missed 3-pointers as the clock hit triple-zeroes. Knecht’s last field goal attempt came at the 1:19 mark, instead opting to feed the hot hand Zeigler down the stretch.
“I told (Knecht) he needed to get his teammates involved,” said Coach Barnes. “The defense was getting into him pretty good.”
Both of these teams will need to refocus for their SEC tournament bouts coming in the next week. Tennessee will remain in the 1-seed for the Southeastern conference, not seeing action until Friday, March 14 versus the Game 3 winner of the competition. With their win today, Kentucky also secures a double-bye and will also be waiting until Friday for their first tournament action.
“I really hope this is one we can learn from,” said Barnes. “We were way too emotional. We've had a brutal three weeks.”
