There are basketball rivalries in the Southeastern Conference. Then there’s Kentucky-Tennessee, of which tonight’s 9 p.m. contest on ESPN from the Vols’ Thompson-Boling Arena will be the 234th meeting between the two.
And nary one of those was played without intense emotional fervor, if not a downright shared dislike bordering on hatred. Nor did the first meeting between the two this season in UK’s Rupp Arena do anything to soften that animosity for tonight’s rematch.
Hitting more than 65 percent of their field goals and forcing 20 Big Orange turnovers back on January 15, the day the program’s beloved former coach Joe B. Hall passed away, the Wildcats prevailed 107-79, which would have immensely pleased Hall who was 1-12 lifetime against UT in Knoxville. It is worth noting that not only have the Vols failed to lose an SEC game since then, but against two common opponents since that time, UT has posted the more impressive wins.
The Vols routed South Carolina in Columbia by an 81-57 score. Kentucky struggled to pull out an 86-76 triumph on the same court. UK a 77-70 winner at home against Vanderbilt, UT prevailed inside the Boling Alley by 73-64 this past weekend. It’s not so much that the No. 4 Cats are going backward as Tennessee is catching fire at the right time.
Said Kentucky assistant coach Bruiser Flint on Monday of the rematch, “If I’m those guys (UT), I remember that we lost by 30 (actually 28), and (UK) scored 100 points. We have to be ready for (Tennessee’s response). If not, they’re going to try to do the same thing to us.”
For all the good Big Orange boss Rick Barnes has done since taking over the program in the early spring of 2015, perhaps nothing is more impressive than his ability to beat Kentucky at least once a season every year he’s been there, as well as taking two of three from them in both 2018 and 2019.
Three of those are especially eye-opening, given the Vols program Barnes enherited from Donny “Don’t confuse me with Chaz Bono” Tyndall.
In Barnes’ first year on Rocky Top, the unranked Vols prevailed 84-77 over a No. 20 UK squad after trailing by as many as 21 points in the opening half. In the 2019 SEC Tournament semifinals, the Wildcats were on top by eight points with less than three minutes to play before UT rallied to win by four.
Then came the 2020 game in Rupp, 10 days before COVID would shut down sports and everything else in this country, if not the world. Up 11 at halftime, UK had won its previous 129 games when leading by 10 or more at intermission. That lead swelled to 17 early in the final half. Somehow, some way, UT ended up winning by eight, its third victory in four seasons on the Cats’ home court.
Said UK coach John Calipari of that collapse down the stretch, “We got manhandled, I got manhandled as a coach.”
And as any Big Blue fan can tell you, Kentucky has never won a national title without sweeping the Vols.
Despite what happened in Rupp 31 days before, they certainly could. For one thing, UK freshman guard TyTy Washington – who scored 28 points in the first meeting while hitting 10 of 13 field goals _-suffered an ankle injury in Saturday’s win over Florida and is probably questionable against the Vols. Jacob Toppin, arguably the Cats’ best frontcourt defender, is also possibly out with his own ankle issues.
If neither of those are able to go, it’s harder to see Cal’s Cats winning than losing.
There’s also UT’s defensive efficiency, now sixth nationally according to KenPom.com. Kentucky is 12th in the same category. Good as Big Blue has been for most of the season, it could be argued that Tennessee is more disruptive thanks to the quick feet and quicker hands of freshman guards Kennedy Chandler and Zakai Zeigler.
Said Barnes on Monday of the first meeting between the two: “I’m not taking anything away from Kentucky, but we made some plays that you absolutely can’t make against a team that is terrific at capitalizing on mistakes.”
Something else he said should give the Big Orange Nation a reason to feel good going forward, regardless of what happens against UK.
Of the growing maturity and experience of his fab freshmen, as well as the steadying leadership these past few weeks of junior Josiah-Jordan James, Barnes said: “It’s different, we’re a different team in terms of our leadership. It’s been fun watching our guys the past few weeks – watching them talk to each other, coach each other, and accept each other’s coaching has been good for us. We’ve talked about that for a long time and it’s neat watching that part of our program development.”
It’s enough different that without a fully healthy Washington and Toppin to contend with, if they play at all, Tennessee should win this one 79-71, once more jinxing their bitter rivals’ dreams for NCAA title No. 9.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.