UK Athletics Photo
There aren’t many positive things to say regarding Kentucky’s basketball season. But one positive that can’t be disputed is the Wildcats’ sweep of the Tennessee Volunteers.
John Calipari’s team beat Rick Barnes and his No. 10 ranked veteran Tennessee squad, 66-54, on Saturday in Lexington for their second win over the Volunteers this the season. Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe tied for a team-high in scoring with 16 points each.
Freshman Chris Livingston was the team’s third-highest scorer, but was arguably the team’s most impactful player. He was a team-high +16 when on the court while recording his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the second straight game Livingston has scored in double figures and his third time in the team’s last four games. Livingston’s offense and his rebounding at both ends of the court came up huge for Kentucky to hold off the Volunteers late in the second half, leading to Kentucky’s upset victory.
Last month, Kentucky beat Tennessee in Knoxville by a score of 63-56 when the Volunteers were ranked No. 5 overall. Both games Kentucky has played against Tennessee have been low-scoring, hard-fought battles. Yet Kentucky, who is having a “worse” season than Tennessee, came out on top in both contests.
The two victories are significant for Kentucky’s mindset moving as well as the team’s NCAA Tournament resume as March Madness nears.
Both wins over Tennessee, as well as the team’s victory over Mississippi State earlier this week, make up all of the Wildcats’ Quad One wins this season. Kentucky is now 3-7 in Quad One games, but will have three more Quad One opportunities as the season comes to a close (at Florida, vs. Auburn & at Arkansas) to even out that record.
Kentucky next takes the court at Florida this coming Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7 PM ET with coverage on ESPN.
One Response
The comments on here ever since the cats beat Miss. St we’re that Tenn was going to take a revenge.and it would be a smack down by them. WRONG!