NASHVILLE, Tenn – The Kentucky Men’s Basketball team is now 2-4 the last two seasons against Tennessee. The Wildcats falling in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday 82-78 against the Volunteers.
Here are some of the post game notes for both individuals and the team.
Final Score: No. 8 Tennessee 82, No. 4 Kentucky 78
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 27-6 overall, ending a three-game winning streak. Tennessee is 29-4.
- UK leads the Tennessee series, 155-73.
o On Feb. 16, UK won 86-69 in Lexington.
o On March 2, Tennessee won 71-52 in Knoxville.
- Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats return home to learn their NCAA Tournament destination Sunday night.
In the First Half
- Kentucky started the combination of Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington and Reid Travis for the 20th time. UK is 15-5 with this lineup.
- Both teams came out hot early and at the first television timeout, UK led 13-11.
- Trailing 24-21, Tennessee put together an 8-0 run for a 29-24 lead, its largest of the game.
- Tennessee was strong from long range, making its first four 3-pointers and 7-of-9 in the half.
- Tennessee led at halftime, 36-34, after Travis hit a long 3, his first since Feb. 12.
- Washington, UK’s leading scorer and rebounder, picked up his second foul with 14:18 left and did not play the rest of the half.
In the Second Half
- Kentucky opened with the second half with the starting lineup.
- The teams continued to battle evenly, with the teams staying within four points of each other during the first 12 minutes of the half.
- Trailing 58-57, Hagans put the Wildcats ahead with a layup, then fed Johnson and Washington for layups and a 63-58 Wildcat lead.
- Hagans’ spurt began a 10-2 Kentucky run that staked the Wildcats to a 67-60 lead.
- A basket-and-one by Johnson with 2:58 left gave the Cats their largest lead at 72-64.
- Tennessee stormed back, needing only 90 seconds for an 11-2 run to go ahead 75-74 with 1:28 remaining.
- Washington’s tip-in put the Cats back ahead at 76-75.
- Tennessee Lamonte Turner made a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to put the Volunteers ahead 78-76 and two foul shots by Jordan Bone made it 80-76 with 10 seconds remaining.
- After a Hagans layup, Bone made two more free throws and Tennessee won 82-78.
- Over the last three minutes of the game, Tennessee finished on an 18-6 run.
Team Notes
- Today’s game was magnificently contested, with nine ties and 15 lead changes. No team led by more than eight points.
- Kentucky shot 53.6 percent from the field. UK suffered its first lost when making half its shots and is now is 14-1 this season when shooting 50 percent or better.
- UK won the rebounding, 32-29. UK fell to 21-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent.
- Kentucky dominated points in the paint, 44-22. The Wildcats are now 23-4 when winning the points in the paint.
- Five Wildcats scored in double figures, the first time that has been accomplished since Jan. 5 at Alabama. Ironically, that was also a loss.
- UK fell to 5-4 vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams this season and 4-3 vs. the top 10.
In the SEC Tournament
- Kentucky has an all-tine record of 134-26 in the SEC Tournament. Today’s game ended a 13-game tourney winning streak and a run of four straight championships.
- UK is 42-3 in semifinal games and has been in the semifinals six years in a row.
- Kentucky is 12-5 vs. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, including 5-2 in semifinal games.
o This is the second year in a row that the teams met in the SEC Tournament, with UK defeating Tennessee in the 2018 championship game.
- Coach Calipari is 23-4 in the SEC Tournament.
Player Notes
- PJ Washington led the Wildcats with 16 points and had five rebounds.
- It is the 15th time this season he has led the team in scoring.
- Keldon Johnson tallied 15 points and tied for the team lead in rebounding with six.
- Ashton Hagans had 10 points and a career-high 12 assists.
- His 12 assists are the most ever for a Wildcat in the SEC Tournament under Calipari and most by a Wildcat this season.
- After beginning the season 5 of 27 on 3-point shots, Hagans has made 8 of 17 long balls over his last seven games.
- Reid Travis scored 11 points and tied Johnson for the team lead in rebounding with six.
- Tyler Herro scored 10 points and added four assists.
- Nick Richards played an efficient 10 minutes, scoring six points, making 2 of 2 field goals and free throws, along with four rebounds.
- EJ Montgomery’s eight points are his most since Feb. 5 vs. South Carolina.
Calipari
- Calipari is now 302-70 at UK.
- Calipari has a 747-210 all-time on-court record.
- Under Calipari, UK is 57-30 vs. ranked competition.
- UK is 15-11 under Calipari when both teams are ranked in the AP top 10.
