FINAL: Kentucky overcomes Butler injury in 75-64 win against No. 5 Tennessee, sweeps season series

Not once, but twice!

On Tuesday night in Rupp Arena, the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats (17-7; 6-5 SEC) shook off even more injury issues in a massive 75-64 win over the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers (20-5; 7-5 SEC). It marks just the second season sweep (2023) for Kentucky over Tennessee since Volunteer head coach Rick Barnes took over in 2015.

Kentucky was already without Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa coming into this Top 15 showdown. Starting point guard Lamont Butler was good enough to give it a go, finishing with six points, four assists, and three rebounds, but he reaggravated his shoulder injury midway through the second half. However, that only fueled the shorthanded Wildcats to victory down the stretch.

And the Big Blue Nation can thank the in-state kids for making it happen. Trent Noah scored a season-high 11 points on 3-4 outside shooting while Travis Perry chipped in eight points on a 2-3 clip from deep. Ansley Almonor (13 points), Otega Oweh (13), and Koby Brea (11) were the other double-digit scorers in this one. As a team, Kentucky shot 50 percent from the field and 12-24 from deep while holding Tennessee to just 3-18 shooting from long range.

Kentucky is now up to seven wins this season against Top 15 opponents, the most in program history for a single season.

The first half couldn’t have gone better for Kentucky. The Wildcats led for 19 of the opening 20 minutes, fueled by a quick 6-0 start. Tennessee’s brief, 25-second lead came on a Zakai Ziegler free-throw, which was immediately countered with a triple by Brea. Defense was the name of the game early on as Kentucky was going toe-to-toe with the Volunteers’ top-ranked defensive unit.

It wasn’t until the Kentucky boys got rolling that the ‘Cats were able to create some separation. Noah drilled a trio of first-half three-pointers plus one more from Perry. Garrison was getting on the action too as UK led by as many as nine points before taking a 33-26 lead into the break. Kentucky was 7-14 from deep in the first half while Tennessee was 0-5.

The offense caught fire on both sides to start the second half. Perry and Almonor were rolling with three combined three-pointers in the first seven minutes out of the locker room, but Tennessee was keeping pace. The Vols made eight of its first 10 shots (while UK made seven of its first 10) to make it a 50-47 Wildcats’ lead with 11:46 left.

Misfortune then struck at the worst possible time for Kentucky: While diving for a loose ball, Butler appeared to reinjure his shoulder with 8:40 in regulation and the ‘Cats ahead by just two points. He was able to leave the floor under his own power but went immediately to the locker room and did not return. Now without both primary point guards and the secondary point guard (Robinson), points were going to be tough to come by.

But Kentucky found ways to make plays when needed. Every Tennessee bucket was matched on the other end. A massive Brea three-pointer with the shot clock winding gave the ‘Cats a 61-60 edge going into the final media timeout. It was all Kentucky needed from there. UK closed the game out on a 14-4 run to seal another huge conference win.