Kentucky has been live road dog on Rocky Top

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Syndication: The Knoxville News-Sentinel — Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht (3) takes a shot while defended by Kentucky forward Ugonna Onyenso (33) during an NCAA college basketball game between Tennessee and Kentucky in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, March 9, 2024.

Rick Barnes is now in year 10 on Rocky Top and has another contender at Tennessee. The Vols have a top-five defense for the fifth consecutive season and have a great chance to get to their third consecutive Sweet 16. Under the former Providence, Clemson, and Texas head coach, this program has won two SEC titles and an SEC Tournament title. But most importantly, they’ve had a lot of success against Kentucky in this rivalry series.

Tuesday night will be the 240th all-time meeting between these SEC programs. Kentucky leads the series 161-78. No one has beaten the Wildcats more than the Vols. Barnes owns a winning record (11-10) in the series with two wins in the SEC Tournament and four victories at Rupp Arena. Tennessee has also beaten Kentucky seven times in ranked vs. ranked matchups since 2018. The Vols have had a ton of success, but they have had some issues protecting the home floor.

Kentucky has been at least a seven-point dog in three of the last four meetings at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols have won none of those games. The Cats have been a live dog in Knoxville.

Date	Game	Spread	Result
Feb. 21, 2021	Kentucky at No. 19 Tennessee	Vols (-7.5)	Cats 70, Vols 55
Jan. 14, 2023	Kentucky at No. 5 Tennessee	Vols (-11.5)	Cats 63, Vols 56
March 9, 2024	No. 15 Kentucky at No. 4 Tennessee	Vols (-8.5)	Cats 85, Vols 81

The underdog in this series is on a 6-3-1 against-the-spread (ATS) run and Kentucky owns four outright upsets. In 2023, the Cats were without starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler and Cason Wallace was battling injuries. Kentucky faced a tough task against Tennessee’s No. 1 defense but found a way to win thanks to a cold shooting night from the Vols.

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Could something similar happen this year? Kentucky is currently a 10.5-point underdog.

Kentucky will be without Lamont Butler for the third game this season but is 2-0 outright without the starting point guard in the lineup and that includes a semi-road win against Gonzaga where Jaxson Robinson had to play point. Could Kentucky follow a similar path to victory tonight?

The Vols have only lost four home games since the beginning of the 2021-22 season. Two of those have been to Kentucky. Could a third arrive on Tuesday?

Mark Pope‘s team faces a difficult challenge, but this is a spot where Kentucky has performed well.