3 Common Trends in the First 2 Kentucky-Tennessee Matchups

The Kentucky and Tennessee basketball programs know each other well. On Friday night, won will earn a spot at the Elite Eight, while the other’s season will come to an end.

Big Blue Nation remembers well what happened in those first two games. Kentucky won as an underdog. Let’s take a closer look at what else those games had in common to see what the Wildcats need to do to win a third game and complete a rare three-game sweep in this historic border rivalry.

1. Kentucky was Shorthanded

Injuries have plagued Kentucky throughout Mark Pope’s first season, and yet the Cats have continued to find a way to find a way. Those issues are still present. Jaxson Robinson is out for the rest of the year, while Lamont Butler was sidelined for the loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament before he kicked off the rust in LaMarch.

The Cats did not have Butler in Knoxville, but they did have Robinson, who knocked down four threes to score 17 points. As will be the case on Friday, Kentucky was without Robinson at Rupp. Butler played just 22 minutes and scored six points. Andrew Carr‘s lingering back injury made him a non-factor in both games. He played two minutes in Knoxville and had just two points in 19 minutes at Rupp.

2. The Cats Made it Rain

How do you beat a good defensive team? Make shots. That’s exactly what the Wildcats did in each meeting against the Vols. Kentucky was exactly 50% from the field in both wins and 12-24 from three-point land. The Cats have only made 12+ threes in one game since the matchup with the Vols, a 31-point win over LSU on Senior Night.

3. Kentucky Bottled Up Chaz Lanier

Chaz Lanier is one of the best bucket-getters in college basketball, averaging 16.5 points per game on 42.5% shooting in SEC play. Kentucky contained the Tennessee guard in both Wildcat wins. He went 0-7 from three at Rupp and 3-10 in Knoxville. In two games against Kentucky, he’s shooting less than 30% from the field and has scored 25 points on 27 field goal attempts.

Kentucky made Tennessee’s high-volume shooter inefficient and forced the supporting cast to score. Zakai Zeigler was 1-13 from three-point land, but Igor Milicic was steady. The Vols’ stretch-four combined to tally 35 points on 63.1% shooting from the field and had nine rebounds in each contest.

Andrew Carr’s late-season renaissance, particularly on defense, should make things more difficult for Milicic. The universal key to beating Tennessee is slowing down Lanier. In wins, Lanier is scoring 19.3 points per game and shooting 45.6% from the field. In losses, Lanier is putting up 12.5 points per game and his field-goal percentage drops 11%.

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