Shorthanded Cats Rebound in Win at Tennessee -

Kentucky went into their game against #8 Tennessee in Knoxville Tuesday night riding a
2 game losing streak. To make matters worse, they would also be without Lamont Butler due to
injury. Going against a top 10 team that has, probably the best defense in the country, was
asking a lot for a fully healthy team on the road, it seemed insurmountable doing it without a
healthy point guard on the roster.

We’ve seen this before this season, albeit not for an entire game. Jaxson Robinson had
to assume PG1 duties in the game against Gonzaga after Kerr Kriisa injured his foot, helping
Kentucky come back for that win. Was he going to be up for the task against Tennessee? The
answer was a resounding yes!

Kentucky got rolling early, hitting 4 of their first 5 three point attempts. 2 by Robinson
and 1 each for Kobe Brea and Ansley Almonor. It was the hot start they needed. Kentucky
would push the lead to 30-22 on a Brea dunk off a backdoor pass from Brandon Garrison, but
the type of run that has plagued Kentucky the last 2 games (especially against Vandy) reared it’s
head again.

Tennessee would end the half on an 11-0 run to take a 33-30 lead into the half. Jordan
Gainey would hit back to back 3s to cut it to 30-28, the second 3 coming off a pair of free throw
misses by Felix Okpara. Okpara was shooting the free throws after Tennessee’s point guard,
Zakai Zeigler went to the locker room with a knee injury. The ball got batted back out after the
second missed free throw right into Gainey’s hands for a rhythm 3. Jamhai Mashack would
knock down 2 free throws and Chaz Lanier would hit a 3 to end the run.

The Wildcats needed to answer coming out of the break and they did just that. Brea
opened the half with a paint jumper and Otega Oweh followed it up with a steal and dunk.
Amari Williams would knock down one of two free throws for a 35-33 lead. Igor Milicic would
tie it with a dunk of his own. However, Almonor would answer right back with a 3 to give the
Cats a lead they would never surrender after.

The game was billed as strength on strength, Tennessee’s defense and Kentucky’s
offense and would hinge on who got the better of the other. Kentucky came in leading the SEC
in fg%, 3 point % and 2 nd in scoring. Tennessee came in leading those same categories on the
defensive side. Kentucky’s strength got the better of this game.

As a team, Kentucky shot 50% from the floor (25-50) and 50% from three (12-24).
Tennessee on the other hand shot just 35% from the floor (25-72) and 24% from three (11-45).
That was by design for Kentucky on the defensive end, they wanted a bad shooting Tennessee
team to take a high number of threes and they knew who they wanted taking them. In the final
4 minutes, Tennessee went an abysmal 2-13 from the floor with all 13 shots being 3s. Rick
Barnes was asked after the game if they were a good enough 3 point shooting team to be
taking 45 threes, his answer, “No, absolutely not.”

Tennessee put 3 players in double figures last night led by Milicic with 19 (6-10 fga, 4-8
from 3), Lanier 15 points (5-14 fga, 3-10 from 3) and Zeigler 15 points (5-18 fga and 1-11 from
3). As a team, Tennessee had 5 turnovers to Kentucky’s 13 and had the rebounding edge 41-38
(18-8 offensive) leading to them taking 22 more shots.

Kentucky would put all 5 starters in double figures led by Brea with 18 (5-5 fga, 3-3 from
3), Robinson 17 points (6-16 fga, 4-9 from 3), Oweh 14 points (4-11 fga, 6-9 FTs), Almonor 12
points (4-7 from 3) and Williams 10 points (3-5 fga, 4-6 FTs). Not only did Williams hit double
figures in scoring, he also pulled down 15 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Plus, when
Robinson started to suffer from cramps during the last 5 minutes of the game or so, Williams
was the one bringing the ball up against the Tennessee pressure.

Kentucky has now won 3 straight at Thompson Boling Arena, 5-6 in that arena and 4-5
overall against Tennessee. There’s another big game coming up Saturday as Kentucky welcomes
back John Calipari as he brings his Arkansas Razorback team to Rupp for their only meeting on
the year.

Arkansas has struggled in league play, just 1-6, but you can rest assured they will bring
their A effort. Tip is scheduled for 9:00pm Saturday at Rupp on ESPN.