Kentucky at Tennessee: Preview, Odds, How to Watch

The regular season finale is here as Kentucky travels to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers with plenty on the line for both sides. It’s a battle of the two hottest teams in the SEC who are not only seen as contenders for the conference tournament crown, but potential Final Four teams.

What do you need to know about the last ride before postseason action begins? Let’s preview the matchup.

How To Watch

No. 15 Kentucky (22-8) at No. 4 Tennessee (24-6)
4 p.m. ET | Saturday, March 9 | Thompson-Boling Arena

• TV: CBS (Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill)
• Streaming: CBS.com, Paramount+ App
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 83 and on the SiriusXM App
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Last Five

Kentucky: NET 20, KenPom 18

• 2/21: 75-74 L at LSU
• 2/24: 117-95 W vs. No. 13 Alabama
• 2/27: 91-89 W at Mississippi State
• 3/2: 111-102 W vs. Arkansas
• 3/6: 93-77 W vs. Vanderbilt

Tennessee: NET 5, KenPom 5

• 2/20: 72-67 W at Missouri
• 2/24: 86-51 W vs. Texas A&M
• 2/28: 92-84 W vs. No. 11 Auburn
• 3/2: 81-74 W at No. 14 Alabama
• 3/6: 66-59 W at No. 17 South Carolina

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series vs. Tennessee 160-78, with John Calipari 21-16 overall against the Volunteers, including 11-12 against Rick Barnes (9-11 at UT). The Wildcats went into the season with a two-game winning streak, but fell in the first head-to-head battle in Lexington back in February by a final score of 103-92. Calipari is looking to improve his UK record to 74-51 against AP ranked competition and 5-2 against such teams this season.

In the previous matchup on Feb. 3, Rob Dillingham exploded for 35 points to lead all scorers, followed by Antonio Reeves with 21 and Reed Sheppard with 16. The team was without DJ Wagner in that one, who was dealing with an ankle injury.

Kentucky at Tennessee Odds via FanDuel

Spread: Tennessee -8.5
Total: 167.5

One play from every win over Tennessee since 1995

Kentucky Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on Arkansas game)

#15 – DJ Wagner
6-4 • 192 • GUARD • FRESHMAN
10.6 PPG, 3.4 APG

#12 – Antonio Reeves
6-6 • 195 • GUARD • SENIOR
20.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG

#1 – Justin Edwards
6-8 • 203 • GUARD • FRESHMAN
8.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG

#4 – Adou Thiero
6-8 • 222 • GUARD • SOPHOMORE
7.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG

#2 – Ugonna Onyenso
7-1 • 226 • FORWARD • FRESHMAN
3.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.6 BPG

Head Coach: John Calipari (32nd season, 15th at UK) – 854-261 overall, 409-121 at UK

Tennessee Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on the last game)

#5 – Zakai Zeigler
5-9 • 171 • GUARD • JUNIOR
11.4 PPG, 5.9 APG, 2.8 RPG

#25 – Santiago Vescovi
6-3 • 192 • GUARD • SENIOR
7.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.5 APG

#3 – Dalton Knecht
6-6 • 204 • GUARD • GRAD SENIOR
20.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.8 APG

#30 – Josiah-Jordan James
6-6 • 224 • GUARD • SENIOR
8.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG

#0 – Jonas Aidoo
6-11 • 241 • FORWARD • JUNIOR
12.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.8 BPG

Head Coach: Rick Barnes (9th season at Tennessee, 37th overall): 199-98 at TENN, 803-412 overall

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• UK is still in play for a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. With one game to play, UK can finish as high as the No. 2 seed and as low as the No. 5 seed.
• Kentucky ranks in the top 10 nationally in 3-point percentage (2nd), points per game (3rd), blocks per game (4th), field-goal percentage (5th), fastbreak points (6th), assist-to-turnover ratio (8th) and bench points (8th).
• The Wildcats have made 292 3-pointers on the season (fourth most in program history). UK’s single-season record is 340 set in 1992-93.
• Antonio Reeves is one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award honoring the nation’s best shooting guard. Reeves is averaging 20.0 points per game and shooting career-bests in every category. Reeves has scored 20 or more points in each of the team’s last six games, the longest streak for a UK player since Jamal Murray had 12 such games in 2016.

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Pregame Storylines

HOW DO YOU SLOW DOWN DALTON KNECHT?

Kentucky did it in the first head-to-head meeting, holding Knecht to 16 points on 5-14 shooting and 1-5 from three. The issue? The Cats gave up 52 combined between Zakai Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James. At the time, the 6-6 scoring machine had fallen short of the 25-point mark just once in SEC play — Tennessee’s opener vs. Ole Miss. Since the matchup in Lexington, he’s averaging 22.7 points per game, but three games under his season average of 20.7 PPG vs. Vandy (14), at Mizzou (17) and at Alabama (13).

Antonio Reeves is in a three-way race for SEC Player of the Year with Knecht and Alabama’s Mark Sears. Could Saturday decide the winner?

BOTH TEAMS BUILDING MOMENTUM AT THE RIGHT TIME

Kentucky has won four straight and six of the team’s last seven, highlighted by ranked wins at Auburn and vs. Alabama while also securing a statement victory at Mississippi State. Where the Cats fell in a buzzer-beater at LSU to break up the streak, though, Tennessee took care of business for seven consecutive wins in that same stretch. And of the seven, each of the last three have been against top-20 competition in Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina — two on the road.

This will be a matchup of the two hottest teams in the SEC, both trending as top contenders in Nashville and Final Four hopefuls in the Big Dance.

CALIPARI VS. BARNES

They may be friends off the floor, but John Calipari and Rick Barnes have built a nice little coaching rivalry on it as the two active winningest D1 coaches.

John Calipari (854) and Rick Barnes (803) are the two active winningest DI head coaches. They join Kansas’ Bill Self as the only active coaches in the top 20 all-time list. The duo combines for 47 NCAA Tournament berths while the other 12 current SEC head coaches combine for 53. Calipari is 11-12 vs. Barnes overall, but 9-11 against him at Tennessee. The two coaches have been trading off back-to-back wins dating back to March 3, 2020 with Barnes on track for the next complete set of wins in Knoxville. Calipari hopes to break that run for the first one-off since Feb. 8, 2020.

POSTSEASON RAMIFICATIONS

Tennessee has the No. 1 seed locked up in the SEC Tournament while Kentucky is fighting for its double-bye life, needing a win in Knoxville to secure a top-four seed. With that win, there’s a real chance the Cats lock in the No. 2 seed, potentially opening the door for a rubber match in the title game in Nashville. More big-picture, though, a win for the Volunteers could lock in a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament — the top priority for all teams entering March. Meanwhile, Kentucky appears to be on the No. 4 seed line nationally with a real chance to earn a No. 3 with a win.

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Join The Discussion on KSBoard

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Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live from Thompson-Boling Arena on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from John Calipari and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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