LEXINGTON, Ky. – This time Tennessee’s upset bid never had a chance.
Instead Kentucky emphatically exacted its revenge for last month’s loss to the Volunteers.
The 13th-ranked Wildcats buried Tennessee under a barrage of first-half 3-pointers and led by as many as 28 points in a dominant 83-58 rout of the abject Vols at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night, three weeks after Tennessee stunned then-N0. 4 Kentucky 82-80 in Knoxville.
After winning four straight games, Tennessee (14-12, 6-7 Southeastern Conference) has dropped three of its past four, though rarely have these Vols been as overwhelmed as they were on Tuesday.
Kentucky’s 25-point lead midway through the second half was the largest deficit Tennessee has faced this season, surpassing the 21-point advantage current No. 1 Gonzaga, the only unbeaten team left in college basketball, built in the first half of an eventual 10-point win against the Vols in Nashville in December.