In Tennessee’s 78-73 loss to Kentucky inside the Food City Center on Jan. 28, junior forward Felix Okpara and sophomore forward Cade Phillips combined for six shot attempts.
It was not the ideal scenario for the Volunteers.
Okpara and Phillips have combined for 32 shots in the three games since and have made 19 of those attempts for a 59.4% clip. The Vols have won their last three games against Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma but will now face the Wildcats again, this time Tuesday night in Rupp Arena.
The rematch between No. 5 Tennessee (20-4, 7-4 SEC) and No. 15 Kentucky (16-7, 5-5) will tip shortly after 7 on ESPN.
“A lot of what they get inside is off our ability to penetrate in the paint,” Tennessee assistant coach Justin Gainey said Monday in a news conference. “They’ve been doing a good job of rolling to the basket and creating different passing angles for our guards. They’re doing a great job on the glass as well.
“We want to try to get them the ball closer to the basket, because they’re both shooting higher percentages, so analytically it makes sense to find opportunities to get them looks.”
Provided, of course, those looks are available.
In the first matchup two weeks ago, Kentucky sagged defensively and dared the Vols over and over again to shoot 3-pointers. Tennessee shot a staggering 45 of them, the most ever by the Vols against a league opponent, but only made 11 for a 24.4% success rate.
“We’ve just got to take good shots,” Okpara said. “I feel like Kentucky tried to keep us from taking early shots, and they took us out of our rebounding positions.”
Okpara is averaging 7.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots this season. In his past three contests, the 6-foot-11, 235-pound former Hamilton Heights standout is averaging 10.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks.
“Felix is an elite defender, and he’s been elite since the first day he got here,” Gainey said. “His ability to defend on the perimeter and move his feet and switch off on guards makes him so unique. He’s so quick off of the floor and has great timing, and those two things obviously help in shot-blocking.”
The Wildcats will not only be at home this time around but will have a deeper roster, with fifth-year senior guard and San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler having returned for Saturday’s 80-57 pummeling of South Carolina after missing the previous three games with a left shoulder injury. Butler, who averages 12.9 points per game and is shooting 51.0% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range, played more than 23 minutes against the Gamecocks, tallying eight points and three assists.
Kentucky stiffened significantly on defense after last Tuesday’s 98-84 loss at Ole Miss, holding the struggling Gamecocks to 32.8% shooting, including 18.2% from 3-point range.
“It very much helps us having Lamont back,” Pope said Saturday in a postgame news conference. “We just taped him up and rolled him out there, and his presence certainly helped us for sure. His first layup at the rim was really shaky, but that’s what happens when you haven’t dribbled the ball for two weeks.
“He got better and better, and he’s going to learn how to do it in a different way. He’s wearing a brace that’s like a tank on his shoulder.”
When asked Monday about Butler’s return, Gainey said, “I think he changes them drastically.”
Pope was most impressed Saturday by fifth-year senior guard and Dayton transfer Koby Brea, who compiled 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and a steal without turning the ball over against the Gamecocks. The 6-7 Brea led the Wildcats in Knoxville with 18 points, making all five of his shots from the floor, including three from behind the arc.
Revenge week
Tennessee not only gets a second crack at Kentucky on Tuesday but a second shot at Vanderbilt this Saturday in Knoxville.
The Vols fell to the Commodores 76-75 on Jan. 18, and Gainey believes players can take losses personally, but only to an extent.
“You also have to understand why we lost and what needs to be corrected to try to win,” Gainey said. “You can take it personal, and our guys reflect when they watch tape, but you’ve got to remove the emotional part out of it and really implement what we’ve talked about.
“Emotion after the first couple of possessions kind of wears off anyway.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee is just 20-93 against Kentucky in Lexington, which includes a 101-40 loss in the 1993 SEC tournament. … Tennessee’s eight victories inside Rupp Arena are the second-most of any school, trailing only the 10 by Florida. … Vols 10th-year head coach Rick Barnes is 4-3 in his seven trips to Rupp after Tennessee went 2-36 there from 1979-2017. … Barnes has 826 career wins and needs one more to tie Arkansas first-year coach John Calipari for 10th on the all-time victories list.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.