Cats, Vols ready for ranked teams showdown

Kentucky and Tennessee have met 232 times on the hardwoods in the past 112 years. Kentucky has a 157-75 lead over Tennessee over the course of the rivalry.

On Saturday, the 22^ndRanked vols come to Lexington with the chance to do something they haven’t done in over 100 years, winning Lexington three times in a row. Tennessee has won on its last two trips to the Rupp Arena (81-73 on March 3, 2020 and 82-71 on February 6, 2021).

Kentucky, ranked 18^e in the nation, obviously don’t want to see that happen. british guard Davion Mintz hopes the home advantage will help the Cats on Saturday.

“That’s the first time I’ve actually heard that,” Mintz said when he heard about Tennessee’s recent success in Lexington. “That’s definitely a motivating factor. Three times is almost dominance, so we should definitely try to stop that streak they have.”

freshman guard Ty Ty Washington Jr. know it’s about protecting the home of the Cats.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee
wed, jan. 3pm – 1pm ET Rupp Arena Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: VK | UT UK Athletics App
Coverage
TV: ESPN Radio: UK Sports Network Watch Listen Live stats
UK	Statistics	FROM
13-3	file	11-4
3-1	conference report	2-2
82.6	PPG	75.3
62.1	Up PPG	60.7
.496	FG%	.437
.391	FG% up	.397
43.4	RPG	38.0
.346	3PT FG%	.322
.301	3PT FG% up	.322
17.4	APG	17.4
6.8	SPG	10.7
4.9	BPG	4.9

“It’s very motivating,” Washington said. “First of all, it’s our home court, so we always want to defend it with pride. This is our home. We have to protect our home at all costs, so we’re going to do everything we can to get a win.”

For his part, UK head coach John Caliparic knows the history. However, he thinks it will be lost on a team full of players who largely haven’t played against Tennessee.

“If I had an experienced team that had experienced two, I would say yes,” said Calipari. “If I ask this team how many games Tennessee has won in a row in our building, they’d say they have no idea.”

But Calipari knows that his team is very aware of the volunteers and how good they are.

“This game, I think (the Cats) understand that these are two good teams,” Calipari said. “It will be a war. It will not be won in the first five minutes. It will be a 40-minute, which (the ball) has last kind of game.”

Calipari knows what to expect from the Vols, who are coached by veteran Rick Barnes.

“His teams are physical, they are well coached,” said Calipari. “If you’re not ready to play physically, you’ll stand out in this game. He’s got good players. He’s done Yeoman’s job.”

The Vols are 11-4 in the season and 2-2 in conference play. UT has lost to Alabama and LSU who are both on the road, on the road. Tennessee defeated Ole Miss and South Carolina, both in Knoxville.

Santiago Vescovi leads Tennessee with 13.6 points per game. Kennedy Chandler averages 13.4 points per game, while John Fulkerson averages nine points and six rebounds per game.
Saturday’s game will be the first in a tough series of games for Kentucky, something Mintz hopes will make the Cats better.

“That’s really good for us,” Mintz said. “Some here, some on the way. The SEC is a very competitive conference. Anything can happen. That’s what you prepare. We’re definitely looking forward to that. It’s going to be fun. That’s why we play the game.”

When Mintz decided to return to the UK this season, he was looking forward to the crowd and the atmosphere around matches like the one in Rupp on Saturday.

“I’m super excited. The BBN family is showing up even though it’s an exhibition,” Mintz said. “I kind of anticipate what I’m used to seeing. I came back to feel that energy and be in that environment.”

Those three wins in a row for Tennessee at Lexington came on February 23, 1916, February 9, 1917, and February 10, 1917. That is the only time in the series that the Vols have won three in a row at Lexington. This year’s Kentucky team is trying to prevent that from happening again.

Another dominant performance from Tshiebwe leads Cats past Commodores

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – John Caliparic has a complaint with its 18th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. He would like to see them finish what they started.

Oscar Tshiebwe scored a career-high 30 points and had 13 rebounds as Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt 78-66 on Tuesday night for its second straight win. The final score was only so close as the Wildcats missed their last seven shots after taking their biggest lead of the game at 28 points.

“We’ve let go of the rope and we need to get better at that,” Calipari said.

The Wildcats (13-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) won their 11th consecutive series, and Calipari improved to 22-4 against Vanderbilt with his 797th overall win.

Tshiebwe led the nation in rebounding and second in double-doubles; this was his 12th. He became the first Kentucky player to score at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Patrick Patterson on December 22, 2008 against Tennessee State.

“Never dreamed of scoring 30 points in a game,” Tshiebwe said. “It just happened. The team, they’re helping me, they’re looking for me down there. … It was good to finish with 30 points, but I have the opportunity to finish on the pole, that’s what helped me. And I make free throws. That was a good thing.”

Calipari called Tshiebwe one of the hardest working players he has coached.

“His body is so big, he’s a great screener on ball screens,” Calipari said. “You can say whatever you want. When you’re 255 (lbs), you know, it’s hard.”

Ty Ty Washington Jr. Added 15 points for Kentucky.

Vanderbilt (9-5, 1-2) lost his second straight. The Commodores’ first two SEC games were decided by a combined three points, with Kentucky beating last season’s series by a total of seven points.

Scotty Pippen Jr., the SEC’s leading scorer, nearly equaled his average at halftime with 17 points. He finished with 32. But junior Jordan Wright was held scoreless for the first time this season after averaging 12.7 points per game for Vanderbilt. Trey Thomas added 14 for the Commodores.

With 7-footer Liam Robbins sidelined by a foot problem, Vanderbilt struggled to defend Tshiebwe. Coach Jerry Stackhouse called the 6-foot-9 Tshiebwe a “handful.”

“Hats off to him,” Stackhouse said. “He played a great game putting the ball in the basket and was very aggressive on the boards. It was his night.”

Vanderbilt never came closer than a draw at 22 after an early 11–0 run. Kentucky returned Vandy’s run with 14 straight runs, narrowing the lead to double digits.

Tshiebwe scored five of the last seven runs, while Kentucky led 41-27 at halftime.

The Wildcats led a whopping 78-50 with 6:14 to go. The only thing that kept Vandy from scoring a high run season was to end the game with a 16-0 run.

The Wildcats recorded their first real road win of the season in their third chance of the season. UK is 2-3 in games away from the Rupp Arena this season when taking into account matches at neutral.
All of Kentucky’s 13 wins this season have been double digits.
UK shot 52.5% (31 of 59), the team’s eighth game to have made at least half of its shots this season, including its second in a row. The Wildcats are 8-0 in those games. Kentucky has shot 50% or better in five of its last seven games.

Wheeler expects to play vs. Tennessee

Kentucky security guard Sahvir Wheeler continues day to day with a neck injury sustained in last week’s game at LSU, but resumed training this week and is expected to play head coach Tennessee John Caliparic said during his weekly press conference on Friday.

Wheeler was knocked out of LSU play less than four minutes into the game when he ran his head into a screen by LSU’s 7-foot, 230-pound Efton Reid. He did not return in the game and missed the last two games.

Without Wheeler at LSU, the UK scored a season-low 60 points and shot a season-worst 36.2%. With freshman guard Ty Ty Washington Jr. also sidelined for part of the second half with leg cramps, UK scored just one field goal over a period of nearly 12 minutes and were beaten 20-2 after UK took a 50-41 lead with 13 left: 06 to go.

“You saw Sahvir stirring the drink insultingly in front of us,” Calipari said. “Makes our game fast. Someone said in the last minutes that Kellan (Grady) didn’t get the ball. And I say, we didn’t have a point guard in. So those guys who were going to find him, that’s who they are. So now have to we say, okay, how do we do this?”

Kentucky has bounced back without Wheeler vs. Georgia and at Vanderbilt. Washington set the British single-game school record with 17 assists vs. the Bulldogs and Oscar Tshiebwe dominated at Vanderbilt by 30 points.

Wheeler led the Southeastern Conference in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio in Georgia last season. His 193 assists in 2020/21 broke Georgia’s previous record in a single season by 24 dimes, despite a shortened season. He switched after the year was up.

Wheeler is pretty much advertised for the Wildcats. His average assists got a hit with the limited action vs. LSU, but he still ranks third nationally with 7.3 assists per game (by games on Jan. 11). Wheeler has provided at least eight assists seven times and at least six assists in 11 games, adding 9.6 points per game. His 26 points vs. North Carolina has the most by a Wildcat this season.