Kentucky passes first major March test, emerges as hottest team in the SEC entering postseason

Just like we all drew it up, right? Never in doubt, not a bead of sweat falling from your forehead. Nothing like a quick-and-easy win to close out the regular season to secure the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament.

It’s hard to describe the feeling inside Thompson-Boling Arena or Food City Center or whatever Tennessee calls it nowadays. Fans poured into the venue the second doors opened, literally tripping down the stairs to get to their seats, the student section filling up like a cup under the tap on a day in July. Apparently shirtless beer guts and checkered orange overalls is the look we’re going for in Knoxville? Things get crazy when you have a shot at the No. 1 seed in your program’s mediocre history.

At least they finally saved some face by taking down the NIT and Elite Eight banners.

Overcoming a top-tier atmosphere

To give credit where it’s due, though, the atmosphere was as good as it gets, every seat filled with fans standing from start to finish. They had flames and strobe lights with all of the marketing gimmicks you can name to create palpable energy with the ear-piercing volume you’d typically experience in a second-weekend tournament game. It was a postseason game before the postseason, an appetizer before the real stuff begins next week in Nashville and beyond. And it’s because both teams had quite a bit to play for, a win likely locking the Volunteers in as that fourth No. 1 next to UConn, Purdue and Houston while the Cats needed it to clinch the double-bye to avoid a four-day trip to the SEC Tournament. The latter scenario would also have this group sitting pretty for a No. 3 seed on Selection Sunday with an outside shot at a No. 2 — back in the national conversation, at minimum.

Rest and respect are beautiful things.

Justin Edwards sets the tone

And goodness, could the weight of it all be felt when the ball was tipped. An instant slugfest where defense was the name of the game, both teams digging in for stops and tough makes in a true clash of titans — clearly the two hottest teams in the SEC. Justin Edwards went nuclear to set the tone early, going for 13 first-half points on 5-7 shooting and 3-4 from three before closing with 16 total while adding six rebounds and three assists. It was clear this matchup meant something to him, nearly signing with Tennessee out of high school before picking Kentucky.

“I thought they were going to boo me more than they did,” he told KSR. “It was kind of a statement game for me. Me and my teammates were joking about out this whole time we were here. We got here yesterday and they were like, ‘Dang, this is JE’s stomping grounds.'”

The next day he would make himself right at home, right from the jump. He was the story of the first half, almost single-handedly giving the Cats a lead and taking the air out of the venue heading into intermission.

Knecht vs. Sheppard and Reeves

And then the switch flipped coming out of the tunnel, defensive grit transitioning to offensive flame-throwing, the two teams combining for a ridiculous 104 points in the final 20 minutes — 52 apiece. That stat is a bit deceiving, though, because it takes away just how in control Kentucky was for 19 minutes of it.

Dalton Knecht tried, truly. He really, really tried to will the Volunteers to victory by himself, exploding for a season-high 40 points on 14-29 shooting in 36 minutes, 19 in the first half and 21 in the second. Every touch with the Tennessee star was tense, the graduate transfer a clear danger to shift momentum with every made bucket. When he’s on, he’s on, and the plan was for Kentucky to be his next victim as he etched his name in stone as a Knoxville legend.

But Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves exist, unfortunately for them. Those two combined for 54 points on 17-30 shooting, 38 in the second half alone with seven made threes — six for Sheppard.

I don’t know what it is about this kid from London and his ability to set the world on fire on the big stage, but my goodness, he’s got it. Every time Tennessee looked to take the game over with fans ready to blow the roof off the place, it was that freaking Sheppard kid with another dagger. And they were all situational and timely, either building momentum or stealing it back, massive swing after massive swing. It just doesn’t make sense how a kid his age and name with the weight of the world on his shoulders just refuses to give a single **** about any of it. He may just be a little boy from Kentucky when the cameras are rolling but that dude is a stone-faced killer between the lines.

“Kentucky did what they had to do every time they needed to make a big play. They did,” Rick Barnes said. “When we needed to, we got some of them but not enough.”

For all of the sniping Sheppard did from three, Reeves did similar damage inside the arc, again proving he’s a complete three-level scorer rather than the catch-and-shoot specialist he was in year one. The mid-range floaters continue to be a work of art while he finished with both touch and physicality around the rim — he even showed some bounce on an emphatic baseline slam. It led to 16 second-half points on 4-5 from the field, 1-1 from three and 7-7 at the line with five rebounds.

“He’s a high-level scorer. He can give it to you from different levels and John does a good job getting him in positions to where he can get some things done,” Barnes said of Reeves.

His 27 overall pushed his two-year regular-season finale total in true road games to 64 points after going for 37 at Arkansas a year ago. And he now finishes the regular season averaging 20.2 points per game, the most ever for a Kentucky player under John Calipari.

Four combine for 81 of 85

Rob Dillingham hit some big shots while going 4-5 at the line en route to nine points in the second half and 11 overall to round out double-figure scorers. Now if it sounds like those numbers are adding up quickly, it’s because there’s not much room to work with elsewhere. Those four players combined for 81 of Kentucky’s 85 points with DJ Wagner making up the other four — he fouled out in 13 minutes because the refs called some absolute nonsense on him and John Calipari earned the right to chew them out on his technical.

Cal is not here for the nonsense. pic.twitter.com/DghDWUrR35

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) March 9, 2024

And what about the rest? Kentucky did all of this with a combined zero points coming from Adou Thiero, Tre Mitchell, Ugonna Onyenso, Zvonimir Ivisic and Aaron Bradshaw — no production whatsoever from the frontcourt, at least offensively. Onyenso was at least brilliant defensively, swatting away four shots while pulling down six rebounds in 29 minutes. The team combined for nine total blocks between five different players.

A disaster finish saved by a close miss

The final minute was a disaster, the Wildcats turning an 11-point lead with 55 seconds to go into a three-point lead with 31 seconds left, an eight-point swing in 24 seconds. And Josiah-Jordan James had a three-pointer to tie it up with 11 seconds on the clock that fortunately went long albeit being right on line. This thing was an inch or two off from potentially going to overtime (or forcing another Sheppard game-winner at the buzzer for a repeat of Starkville). The late-game execution has to be better, specifically when dealing with full-court pressure. Games that should result in blowout wins are unnecessarily close due to avoidable self-inflicted errors. Those balls could bounce a different way in the NCAA Tournament (or the way we saw in Baton Rouge a few short weeks ago).

We’ll see you on Friday in Nashville

But that’s not what tonight was about. This was about Kentucky looking a top-five true road matchup in the face and being the better team essentially from start to finish with something tangible to play for. That was a March win, this group of young Wildcats learning to overcome different obstacles with high highs and low lows. Learning how to win games of all shapes and sizes is what the Big Dance is all about, and this certainly qualifies. With five straight victories to close out the regular season, John Calipari’s group is now the hottest in the SEC with a chance to keep building that momentum in Nashville.

We’ll see you on Friday has never felt so good.