THREE-POINT PLAY
Three key numbers from Tennessee’s 84-77 win to Kentucky on Tuesday night.18: Tuesday’s win was the 18th time an unranked Tennessee team has beaten Kentucky when the Wildcats have been ranked.30-of-34: The Vols were excellent from the free-throw line, missing only four times in the victory.95: In his first game against Kentucky as Tennessee’s coach, Rick Barnes notched his 95th career win against a ranked opponent. The Vols beat South Carolina when the Gamecocks were ranked earlier this season.
Tennessee guard Robert Hubbs III (3) is fouled by Kentucky forward Alex Poythress (22) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 84-77. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)KNOXVILLE - When told his Tennessee Volunteers once trailed 20th-ranked Kentucky by 21 points, Kevin Punter Jr. could only shake his head in disbelief.
The crowd of 19,295 probably did the same thing leaving Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday night.
The Vols erased a 21-point first-half deficit and turned the tables on their recent second-half struggles by emerging from a 20-minute scrap with an 84-77 Southeastern Conference triumph against the rival Wildcats.
"I look at (the scoreboard) a lot, but I probably was tripping," Punter joked after pouring in 27 points in Tennessee's first win against Kentucky since 2013.
"It's just crazy to say, 'You guys were down 34-13.' That just sounds crazy."
Tennessee's comeback, fueled by Punter and Armani Moore, was crazier, particularly since the Vols (11-11, 4-5) were coming off what was their worst week of the season following the second-half collapses at Alabama and TCU.
Any win against Kentucky is sweet for the Vols, regardless of the teams and the records, but the fashion of this one will stand out to those involved in it.
"This by far is one of the best wins (of my career), just because of the simple fact that we've been through a whole lot this year as a team," Moore said. "I feel like we've just had our backs against the wall. I'm very proud of us and this team, because we're not going to give up.
"We always go out and compete no matter who we're playing."
Punter got plenty of help from his supporting cast, as Moore scored 18 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out four assists. Detrick Mostella chipped in 13 points. Admiral Schofield had 11 points and six rebounds.
"I'm really happy for our guys," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "Our guys deserve all the credit in the world, the way they hung in. We obviously weren't playing very well early, but they stayed with it. There wasn't one person that played that game that didn't help us some way, somehow.
"Obviously," he added, "it was a terrific win for us."
It didn't start out that way, however.
Kentucky (16-6, 6-3) jumped to an 18-8 lead and stretched the advantage to 21 points with 5:46 left in the first half on a 16-2 run.
It appeared Tennessee, which endured one scoreless stretch of three minutes and 51 seconds and another field drought of nearly seven minutes, was about to be run out of its own arena.
Barnes said the competitiveness of his team, particularly Punter and Moore, ensured that thought never crossed his mind.
"As long as you've got guys that you think are willing to compete, I don't think you think that way," he said.
"I've said before, I love these guys. They'll tell you that I've told them that I think if we can learn to play and fight for every possession, we'll have a chance every time we go out. The other thing that I would say is that I can tell they're disappointed, too, when we let games get away that we feel like you should have won.
"I don't think if you're a big-time competitor if you don't think you can win them all."
The comeback began innocently with Punter's free throws and three-point play sandwiching Mostella's 3, and Tennessee came to life to finish the half on a 23-8 run and trail by only six at the break.
The second half then turned into a possession-by-possession fight in which every shot, rebound and loose ball seemed to have the entire game riding on it.
"I've been down in games more than that and come back and won," Moore said. "It's no doubt in my mind, this is one of the most talented teams I've been around in a long time. Obviously when we've been in some slumps here and there, but when it comes to scoring the ball, I don't think we have a problem in that department."
Mostella's 3 at the 14:02 mark gave Tennessee its first lead (56-54), and the Vols regained the lead with a 12-3 run capped by Shembari Phillips making a sweet move to score on the break and make it 68-63.
Robert Hubbs III gave Tennessee the lead for good with a free throw with 5:04 to go, had a key dunk off an inbounds pass after Kentucky made it 77-74 and hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to ice a win that washed away the disappointment of last week's debacles.
"We understand why we lost," Punter said. "Don't talk about it. Just go out there and do it. That's kind of where we were sitting at. We understand what we have to do it, but we have to go out there and do it.
"Anybody can talk about it, but we've got to go out there and do it."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.