FINAL: Short-handed Kentucky upsets No. 8 Tennessee 78-73 in Knoxville

No Lamont Butler, no problem for this group of gritty Wildcats.

On Tuesday night in Knoxville, No. 12 Kentucky (15-5; 4-3 SEC) pulled off the win of its season so far by knocking off the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers (17-4; 4-4 SEC) with a 78-73 victory. Butler, the Wildcats’ starting point guard, did not play due to injury. In his place, Jaxson Robinson stepped up as the lead guard by scoring 17 points. Koby Brea led the way for Kentucky with a huge 18-point performance on a perfect 5-5 shooting.

Kentucky was also mostly without starting forward Andrew Carr, who was listed as available ahead of the game. However, he saw just two minutes of action due to his back injury. Amari Williams picked up the slack with one of his best games of the season: 10 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists. Otega Oweh (14 points) and Ansley Almonor (12) rounded out the Wildcats’ double-digit scorers.

Despite Tennessee trotting out the nation’s top-ranked defense, Kentucky shot 50 percent from the floor and 12-24 from deep. Turnovers were an issue in the first half, but the ‘Cats were much better at taking care of the ball after halftime. UK didn’t make it easy on themselves down the stretch with a handful of missed free throws (and plenty of reviews from the officials), but this is a win fans will take every day of the week. It marked Tennessee’s first home loss of the season.

Considering the circumstances, it was a dream start for the Wildcats. Kentucky opened the game with four three-pointers to take an early 12-4 at the first media timeout. Offense was tough to come by for Tennessee, which finished the first half shooting 30.3 percent from the field (5-20 3PT). UK dared the Volunteers to shoot and it paid off. Chaz Lanier was 1-5 from deep in the opening 20 minutes.

Robinson (11 first-half points) and Almonor (nine) helped keep Kentucky’s scoring afloat. Those two hit six of the ‘Cats seven triples in the first half. But eight turnovers for UK combined with an 8-12 shooting mark from the free-throw line for Tennessee allowed the Volunteers’ poor offense to stay alive. Defensive rebounding was also an issue for UK in the final minutes.

Even with Zakai Ziegler going down near halftime due to an injury, UT found a groove and finished the half on an 11-0 run to take a 33-30 lead into the break.

The second half featured another dream start for the Wildcats. A quick 5-0 run put Kentucky back ahead. Ziegler returned to the lineup but his impact was not obvious. Back-to-back triples from Almonor and Brea had UK in a rhythm as Tennessee’s offense continued to sputter. A massive shot from deep by Trent Noah (coupled with some great minutes from Collin Chandler) gave Kentucky its first double-digit lead of the night.

Going into the second-to-last media timeout, UK was clinging to a 62-53 lead. Tennesee continued to chip away but Kentucky was able to tack on easy points at the foul line. A timely three from Lanier cut UK’s advantage down to 71-68 at the final media break. The Vols went ice cold from deep over the next several possessions though, allowing the ‘Cats to go in front by five with under two minutes to go.

Kentucky seemingly did everything it could to give Tennessee a chance to win, but just enough made free throws down the stretch put the final nail in the coffin.