3 Takeaways: No. 1 Tennessee 69, No. 5 Kentucky 86

Photo by Tennessee Athletics

The top-ranked Vols suffered a humbling 86-69 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night. Tennessee never really got into a rhythm to start the game and the Wildcats built momentum with help from their home crowd.

Kentucky dominated for most of the first half, but led just 37-31 at halftime. The Wildcats began the second half on a 14-0 run, extending their lead to 20 points. Although this Tennessee has shown that they are never truly out of games, this seemed to be too much to overcome. A 13-0 Tennessee run cut their deficit to 11 points with just under 9:00 remaining, but the Wildcats would not allow them to cut it to single digits.

Jordan Bone led the team with 19 points and 6 assists. He made 3-4 shots from 3-point range. Admiral Schofield has 17 points, while Grant Williams posted 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Here are 3 Takeaways from the Vols’ second loss of the season.

Tennessee Was Not the Aggressor

The officiating in this game certainly was questionable, per the norm at Rupp Arena. With that being said, the Vols didn’t help themselves out either. They were out-rebounded 39-26 and committed 25 fouls, to the 15 of Kentucky. Tennessee only assisted 11 times, shooting 24-59 from the floor. After losing to Tennessee last season, John Calapari said, “We got manhandled, by men.” Well, the same thing happened in this matchup, only Tennessee was the team getting manhandled. A rematch in Knoxville is set for March 2nd. That should be quite the environment.

Defensive Struggles

Tennessee allowed the wrong players to get hot for Kentucky on Saturday night. PJ Washington scored 23 points on 9-12 shooting and Keldon Johnson made 3-6 shots from 3-point range. Additionally, Kentucky freshman Tyler Herro recorded a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double. As bad of a night as it was, this is unacceptable defense and it’s unlikely that Tennessee will play this poorly in their upcoming matchup with the Wildcats

Tennessee Didn’t Look Like Themselves

The Vols’ perimeter shots weren’t falling, which led to forced shots and uncharacteristic possessions. Lamonté Turner missed all 7 of his 3-point attempts and Jordan Bowden was 0-4 from beyond the arc. The team’s 11 assists marks their lowest total for a single game this season. Tennessee could not get anything accomplished down low, so they forced up 3 after 3, making just 7-25 on the day. Tennessee’s shots are more likely to fall at home, but this poor of an overall shooting performance is a rarity for Tennessee this season. They will look to improve on their mistakes and ensure that this never happens again.

Player of the Game: Jordan Bone