Tennessee senior forward Uros Plavsic scored a career-high 19 points during Saturday afternoon's surprising 63-56 loss to Kentucky inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
Should the former Hamilton Heights standout have scored more, or even significantly more?
"Definitely," Volunteers senior guard Josiah-Jordan James said. "It was selfish play by myself, and I feel like the other guards -- Santi(ago Vescovi) and Zakai (Zeigler) -- would admit it, too. Our shots weren't really falling, and he was having a hell of a game.
"We should have gotten him the ball more."
Plavsic, the 7-foot-1, 265-pounder from Ivanjica, Serbia, made 9-of-11 shots against the Wildcats for an 81.8% clip. The other nine Vols who played combined to make 14-of-46 attempts for a 30.4% accuracy rate.
Tennessee made just 14.3% of its 3-point attempts, connecting on 3-of-21 tries.
"I don't think that anybody was selfish," Plavsic said. "I feel like everybody took shots that they felt like were the right shots at that moment. I think we got a lot of good looks. We just didn't finish well around the rim, and I think that affected the game for sure.
"I wouldn't say anybody was selfish, though."
What is certain is that Plavsic has scored a combined 30 points against Vanderbilt and Kentucky for the most productive two-game stretch of a college career that began at Arizona State in 2018. A third consecutive double-digit output Tuesday night at Mississippi State (7 Eastern on ESPN2) would be his first such streak.
"I think my teammates are trusting me in giving me the ball, and that I'm fighting for the position in the paint to where I want to catch the ball and need to catch the ball," Plavsic said. "I'm making shots and playing defense."
No change in NET
Despite Saturday's setback, Tennessee remained No. 2 behind Houston in the NET rankings used by the NCAA tournament's selection committee. Alabama moved up from No. 6 to No. 3 after its 106-66 thrashing of LSU, while Kentucky catapulted from No. 65 to No. 42 following its much-needed triumph.
Here is where each of the Southeastern Conference teams stood in the NET as of Sunday:
Tennessee (No. 2), Alabama (No. 3), Auburn (No. 25), Arkansas (No. 26), Kentucky (No. 42), Florida (No. 48), Mississippi State (No. 52), Missouri (No. 53), Texas A&M (No. 57), Vanderbilt (No. 92), Georgia (No. 93), LSU (No. 110), Ole Miss (No. 113), and South Carolina (No. 269).
Free-throw fun
Kentucky entered Saturday ranked 12th among SEC teams in free-throw shooting with a mundane 65.6% clip, but the Wildcats connected on 22-of-25 against the Vols for an 88.0% success rate. Senior guard Antonio Reeves made all eight of his attempts.
"That was pretty big," Reeves said afterward. "We've been struggling as a team, and for me to go 8-for-8 was really refreshing. I know I can shoot free throws. I know I can.
"It felt like it was contagious today."
Odds and ends
Kentucky increased its series advantage over Tennessee to 159-77, which includes a 55-52 mark in Knoxville. ... Kentucky and Tennessee had 28- and 25-game home winning streaks end this past week, so Auburn now has the league's longest, upping it to 28 with Saturday night's 69-63 outlasting of Mississippi State.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.