KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee men’s basketball team lost 77-64 to 15th-ranked Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Although the Volunteers (13-10, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) were able to remain close – they erased a double-digit advantage on multiple occasions in the second half – they never were able to draw closer than four points as the Wildcats (18-5, 8-2) always seemed to answer at key moments.
Tennessee freshman Santiago Vescovi scored 18 points, his most through 11 games with the Vols, and Jordan Bowden and John Fulkerson had 16 each, with Bowden adding a team-high nine rebounds. Yves Pons had nine points and blocked four shots.
The Wildcats’ Immanuel Quickley matched Vescovi for the game high in scoring. Tyrese Maxey and Nick Richards added 15 points apiece for Kentucky, freshman Johnny Juzang had a season-high 13 and Ashton Hagans finished with 10.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Vols’ loss:
1. Good offense beat good defense when it mattered: It wasn’t that Tennessee defended poorly. Quite often the Vols played a possession as perfectly as they possibly could, but on too many occasions the Wildcats’ guards – who dominated Saturday – were able to make plays with the shot clock winding down and create easy baskets.
2. Finding five a problem: The five Vols on the floor for most of the second half were Vescovi, Bowden, Jalen Johnson, Pons and Fulkerson, because Uros Plavsic became unplayable against the Wildcats’ big men and freshmen Davonte Gaines and Drew Pember sometimes seemed overwhelmed by Kentucky’s physicality. It provided the latest example of just how weak the overall roster has been this season. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes just didn’t have many answers.
3. Toughness in the face: What one can say is that the Vols never really flinched. Effort wasn’t their problem; it was just that they just weren’t as talented as the visitors, who shot 54% from the field while limiting the Vols to 35%. Tennessee just doesn’t have the players to create shots against a team like Kentucky; it will have to rely more and more on ball and player movement, which was good Saturday – but not good enough.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.