Otega Oweh's defense helped disrupt freshman Nate Ament in the second half Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky didn’t do anything Tennessee coach Rick Barnes didn’t expect in the second half after his team built a 47-33 halftime lead Saturday night.
Freshman Nate Ament had 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, and point guard Jacoby Gillespie had 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting from 3, in the first half. The two did not make a 3-pointer in the second half as Gillespie went 0-for-3 and Ament did not even get a 3-point attempt.
That enabled UK to outscore the Vols 41-24 in the second half and win 74-71 to sweep regular-season games over Tennessee for the second straight season.
“Obviously, with the way we made shots in the first half, we knew they were going to put more issues on Jacoby and Nate, and we were getting what we wanted,” said Barnes. “In the middle of ball screens, we just didn’t finish it.
“At that point in time, I thought we needed more post guys, but I think both teams played really hard, and not a lot of easy baskets out there. ”
Kentucky overcame a 17-point first-half deficit in Knoxville to win by controlling the second half. It was the same scenario on Saturday night,
“I don’t think there is any question our guys want to win, and they play hard. Kentucky is a really good basketball team,” Barnes said.
He said the Vols had a “big breakdown” when Otega Oweh drove inside, drew the defense, and passed to Collin Chandler, who hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left to put UK ahead to stay.
“We over-rotated on the baseline, but then they were driving really hard to the basket, and it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. We really did a good job defending the 3 better than we did last game,” Barnes said. “That one play he made a nice pass, but we didn’t execute that last 3 that they got the way we needed to.”
Tennessee missed 24 of 30 shots in the second half. The Vols had 19 offensive rebounds but managed just 12 second-chance points, two fewer than UK had with only eight offensive boards.
Barnes said that, as good as Ament has been in his freshman season, he still has to develop a midrange game when he cannot get off 3-point shots.
“He’s got to learn to shoot a midrange jump shot, and he’s got a good one, as good as anybody in the country. He’s got to learn to do that when he’s open, and it will open up so much more for other things,” Barnes said.
The Tennessee coach was bitterly disappointed when his team lost to UK in Knoxville. He said that the loss took him two days to get over.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. I can normally let them go pretty quickly, but we gift-wrapped that one,” Barnes said. “They did what they had to do: win the game. This is exactly how we felt. Even when we were up, we knew it was going to settle down to a last-minute play.
“We have got to get a better shot than we did there at the end (when Ament missed trying to shoot over Otega Oweh) and put a little more pressure on the referees than we did. We have not reached the ceiling with this team, and that’s a good thing right now that we can keep going.”
However, the Vols have to do that after another loss to Kentucky, blowing a double-digit lead.
2 Responses
Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats.
Great win! With that being said, it begs the question: Why do we have to get behind double digits at halftime before we start playing like a team? The first half of the game was full of hero ball on offense and no sense of urgency on defense. We got outrebounded by 15. We were 59% from the foul line; luckily Tennessee only shot 68%. We allowed Tennessee to make 8 three pointers in the first half, but no 3 pointers in the second half. We could have very easily lost to LSU and both Tennessee games and should have lost them. We have the talent to play like a team and be a top ranked team. Why do we keep going back to playing hero ball? Pope needs to figure that out and stop it! Next game is at Florida to play for a share of the conference lead. We have a week to get up for that game. Will we see the team that beat Arkansas or the team that got beat by Vanderbilt? If we play the first half like the Vandy game and the second half like the Arkansas game…we will lose. We need a complete game like the Arkansas game to have any chance at all. Miraculous heroics are enjoyed by all, but they will get you beat more than you will win against the better teams. Remember what Tennessee did to us in the Elite 8 last year? That is the game we have to win if we ever want to be a national champion again.
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