UK Postgame Notes
Compiled by UK Athletics
Final Score: No. 7/7 Tennessee 71, No. 4/4 Kentucky 52
Team Records and Series Notes
Kentucky falls to 24-5 overall and 13-3 in the Southeastern Conference, falling a game behind Tennessee and LSU for the league lead.
Tennessee is now 26-3 and 14-2 in SEC play.
Kentucky still leads the most played series in school history 155-72.
UK leads 54-52 in games played in Knoxville, Tennessee, but Tennessee has won four straight at Thompson-Boling Arena. That’s UK’s longest losing streak on the road to Tennessee since dropping seven straight in Knoxville from 1979 to 1985.
UK is now 12-9 vs. Tennessee when both teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats enter the final week of the regular season, starting with a trip to Ole Miss on Tuesday. That game is slated for a 9 p.m. ET tip on ESPN.
In the First Half
Kentucky started the combination of Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington (pictured) and Nick Richards for the first time this season.
Reid Travis missed his third straight game with a sprained right knee. His timetable for a return was at least two weeks from the injury, which occurred Feb. 19 at Missouri.
UK jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game, featuring a slick lob pass from Herro to Richards for a dunk followed by a Hagans 3-pointer.
Tennessee answered with a 9-0 run that lasted 3:15 of game time. Richards ended it with a free throw.
The Volunteers pulled in front 28-18 on a 9-0 run from the 8:38 mark to the 4:03 mark. Kentucky went scoreless for 4:59 until Richards hit a free throw at the 3:39 mark.
The Wildcats dealt with foul trouble nearly all half. EJ Montgomery picked up his second foul at the 9:55 mark mark and his third at 5:00, Washington was charged with his second with 8:23 (and went to the bench for the rest of the half), Johnson got his second at 5:16, and Richards picked up No. 2 at the 2:59 mark and No. 3 at 2:17.
When Washington went to the bench with his second foul, the Wildcats were outscored 18-6 until halftime.
After a Johnson floater at the 10:23 mark, Kentucky went without a field goal for 9:32 of game time until Jemarl Baker Jr. hit a 3 pointer from the left corner with 51 seconds left in the half.
UK’s six field goals and 23.1-percent shooting were both first-half lows this season
The six made field goals were behind only the five made in the second half vs. Missouri on Feb. 19.
The 23.1 percent was a low for any half.
In the Second Half
Kentucky opened with the same starting five: Hagans, Herro, Johnson, Washington and Richards.
After falling behind by 20 points, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run – highlighted by five points from Immanuel Quickley – to cut Tennessee’s lead to 47-34. The Wildcats would never get any closer.
UK did not score over the final 3:22 of the game.
Team Notes
UK’s road winning streak was stopped at six games. It was the longest road winning streak since the magical 2014-15 season.
Kentucky is now 5-3 vs. AP Top 25 opponents and 3-2 vs. top-10 foes.
UK scored a season-low 52 points, four fewer than the previous low.
It’s the fewest points the Wildcats have scored since netting just 48 in a loss to Vanderbilt on March 15, 2013, in the SEC Tournament.
Kentucky shot a season-low 31.8 percent.
That’s UK’s lowest field-goal percentage since shooting 31.5 percent at Missouri on Feb. 3, 2018.
UK made just 14 file goals, tying the fewest field goals UK made in one game during the Calipari era (March 1, 2014 at South Carolina).
After dominating the Volunteers 36-20 in points in the paint in the first matchup in Lexington, Kentucky scored just 10 on Saturday. Tennessee scored 28.
UK fell to 3-2 when getting outscored in the paint.
It’s just the third time in 23 games UK has lost when winning the rebounding battle.
Player Notes
PJ Washington led UK with 13 points despite foul trouble in the first half.
He’s scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 game and 19 games overall.
Nick Richards started for the third time this season and first time since Nov. 23 vs. Tennessee State. He scored eight points, hauled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
He’s blocked three shots in each of the past three games
UK dropped to 12-1 this season when Richards scores at least four points.
Immanuel Quickley scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting (2 of 4 from 3-point range).
It was his best scoring output since he scored 12 on Jan. 12 against Vanderbilt.
John Calipari
Calipari is 299-69 at UK, needing just one more win to become the fourth-fastest coach in NCAA Division I history to 300 wins at any school
Calipari has a 744-200 all-time on-court record.
Calipari fell to 57-29 vs. AP Top 25 opponents at Kentucky and 23-18 vs. the top 10.
He is 80-52 when both opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25, including 49-25 at UK. He’s 26-17 all-time when both opponents are in the top 25 and 15-10 at UK.
Calipari is 16-10 vs. Tennessee in his career.
UK Athletics Photo
