Kentucky v Tennessee Post game Notes

ATTENDANCE: 20,933, largest ever for an SEC Tournament game in Bridgestone Arena



Final Score: No. 8 Tennessee 82, No. 4 Kentucky 78



Team Records and Series Notes

· Kentucky is 27-6 overall, ending a three-game winning streak. Tennessee is 29-4.

· UK leads the Tennessee series, 155-73.

o On Feb. 16, UK won 86-69 in Lexington.

o On March 2, Tennessee won 71-52 in Knoxville.

· Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats return home to learn their NCAA Tournament destination Sunday night.



In the First Half

· Kentucky started the combination of Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington and Reid Travis for the 20th time. UK is 15-5 with this lineup.

· Both teams came out hot early and at the first television timeout, UK led 13-11.

· Trailing 24-21, Tennessee put together an 8-0 run for a 29-24 lead, its largest of the game.

· Tennessee was strong from long range, making its first four 3-pointers and 7-of-9 in the half.

· Tennessee led at halftime, 36-34, after Travis hit a long 3, his first since Feb. 12.

· Washington, UK’s leading scorer and rebounder, picked up his second foul with 14:18 left and did not play the rest of the half.



In the Second Half

· Kentucky opened with the second half with the starting lineup.

· The teams continued to battle evenly, with the teams staying within four points of each other during the first 12 minutes of the half.

· Trailing 58-57, Hagans put the Wildcats ahead with a layup, then fed Johnson and Washington for layups and a 63-58 Wildcat lead.

· Hagans’ spurt began a 10-2 Kentucky run that staked the Wildcats to a 67-60 lead.

· A basket-and-one by Johnson with 2:58 left gave the Cats their largest lead at 72-64.

· Tennessee stormed back, needing only 90 seconds for an 11-2 run to go ahead 75-74 with 1:28 remaining.

· Washington’s tip-in put the Cats back ahead at 76-75.

· Tennessee Lamonte Turner made a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to put the Volunteers ahead 78-76 and two foul shots by Jordan Bone made it 80-76 with 10 seconds remaining.

· After a Hagans layup, Bone made two more free throws and Tennessee won 82-78.

· Over the last three minutes of the game, Tennessee finished on an 18-6 run.





Team Notes

· Today’s game was magnificently contested, with nine ties and 15 lead changes. No team led by more than eight points.

· Kentucky shot 53.6 percent from the field. UK suffered its first lost when making half its shots and is now is 14-1 this season when shooting 50 percent or better.

· UK won the rebounding, 32-29. UK fell to 21-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent.

· Kentucky dominated points in the paint, 44-22. The Wildcats are now 23-4 when winning the points in the paint.

· Five Wildcats scored in double figures, the first time that has been accomplished since Jan. 5 at Alabama. Ironically, that was also a loss.

· UK fell to 5-4 vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams this season and 4-3 vs. the top 10.



In the SEC Tournament

· Kentucky has an all-tine record of 134-26 in the SEC Tournament. Today’s game ended a 13-game tourney winning streak and a run of four straight championships.

· UK is 42-3 in semifinal games and has been in the semifinals six years in a row.

· Kentucky is 12-5 vs. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, including 5-2 in semifinal games.

o This is the second year in a row that the teams met in the SEC Tournament, with UK defeating Tennessee in the 2018 championship game.

· Coach Calipari is 23-4 in the SEC Tournament.



Player Notes

· PJ Washington led the Wildcats with 16 points and had five rebounds.

· It is the 15th time this season he has led the team in scoring.

· Keldon Johnson tallied 15 points and tied for the team lead in rebounding with six.

· Ashton Hagans had 10 points and a career-high 12 assists.

· His 12 assists are the most ever for a Wildcat in the SEC Tournament under Calipari and most by a Wildcat this season.

· After beginning the season 5 of 27 on 3-point shots, Hagans has made 8 of 17 long balls over his last seven games.

· Reid Travis scored 11 points and tied Johnson for the team lead in rebounding with six.

· Tyler Herro scored 10 points and added four assists.

· Nick Richards played an efficient 10 minutes, scoring six points, making 2 of 2 field goals and free throws, along with four rebounds.

· EJ Montgomery’s eight points are his most since Feb. 5 vs. South Carolina.



Calipari

· Calipari is now 302-70 at UK.

· Calipari has a 747-210 all-time on-court record.

· Under Calipari, UK is 57-30 vs. ranked competition.

· UK is 15-11 under Calipari when both teams are ranked in the AP top 10.