KSR Today: Kentucky looks for season sweep of Tennessee

The time to celebrate Kentucky’s win at Mississippi State is now over; there’s more business to take care of.

The Wildcats are set to host the No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers inside Rupp Arena on Saturday, yet another resume-building matchup for a team in desperate need of quality wins. UT comes in ranked No. 3 in the NET with a 20-6 overall record and the No. 1 defense in college basketball, allowing just 56.4 points on 35.5% shooting overall and 24.7% from three.

The Volunteers had been on a bit of a cold streak, losing three of four (at Florida, at Vanderbilt, vs. Missouri) before pulling together a 68-59 win over Alabama (No. 2 in the NET) on Wednesday. Now, they head to Lexington looking for revenge against a Kentucky team that started its six-game winning streak against Tennessee back on Jan. 14, but lost back-to-back games vs. Arkansas and at Georgia before getting back in the win column at Mississippi State this past week.

Tennessee is led by guard Santiago Vescovi at 12.3 points per contest, followed by guard Zakai Zeigler with 10.9 points and forward Olivier Nkamhoua with 10.7 to round out double-digit scorers. Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips add 9.5 points and 9.0 points per game each, respectively, with the team scoring 72.3 points on 43.0% shooting and 32.7% from three.

Round one recap

It was a season-saving win in Knoxville the first time around, with the Wildcats defeating the Volunteers as double-digit underdogs, a final score of 63-56. Kentucky shot just 35% overall, but outrebounded Tennessee 43-23, scored 11 more points off the bench and hit an impressive 22-25 attempts at the free-throw line.

Antonio Reeves led the way with 18 points and four rebounds, followed by Oscar Tshiebwe with 15 points and 13 rebounds and CJ Fredrick with 13 on 4-11 shooting and 3-9 from three. 

Tennessee shot 40.4% from the field, but just 14.3% from three while going 7-10 at the line. It played right into Kentucky’s scouting report: “If we can make them make tough threes and keep them off the backboard, that’d help,” associate to the head coach Bruiser Flint said leading up to the matchup.

Sahvir Wheeler (shoulder) and Daimion Collins (foot) were surprise inactives for the Wildcats on a day Cason Wallace (back spasms) and Jacob Toppin (shoulder) entered the matchup as game-time decisions, both deciding to give it a go. This time around, it will be Wheeler (ankle) and Fredrick (rib) questionable going into the game.

Will Wheeler and Fredrick be back?

Speaking of the injured backcourt duo, John Calipari said the “hope” was that they are both able to give it a go against the Volunteers on Saturday, but practice to close out the week would determine the final answer.

“I hope Saturday,” Calipari said after the win at Mississippi State. “[They] haven’t practiced so and we’re not — we won’t go with a live practice (Thursday). And then Friday, you know, we’ll have to see.”

Fredrick suffered a cracked a rib colliding with a cameraman during the Florida game on Feb. 4, and after trying to play through the injury vs. Arkansas, couldn’t give it a go on the road at Georgia or Mississippi State. As for Wheeler, he twisted his ankle in practice on Monday of last week and hasn’t played since the Florida win.

Viewing Info, Odds and Predictions

• Date: 1 p.m. ET, Saturday, Feb. 18
• Location: Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY)
• TV Channel: CBS
• Stream: CBS Sports, CBS Sports App, Paramount Plus
• Commentators: Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst)
• Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens are on the call for UK Sports Network (630 WLAP, 840 WHAS)
• Odds: The official spread has not yet been released, but ESPN’s matchup predictor gives Tennessee a 72.7% chance to pull off the win. KenPom favors the road team, as well, giving the Volunteers a 64% chance to win while predicting a 69-65 final score. Bart Torvik also likes UT, predicting a 69-63 win (+5.5) with a 72% chance for the road team to head home with a victory.

Wildcats preview Volunteers

Before hosting the Volunteers, the Wildcats are set to break down their upcoming opponent in a media opportunity scheduled for this morning. Select players will speak at the podium inside Memorial Coliseum starting at 10:45 a.m. ET, discussing what went right in the first matchup and what needs to happen to earn the season sweep.

KSR will be there in person, with coverage on the website to follow throughout the afternoon.

Kentucky WBB falls at home to Georgia

What happens when a team that has lost 14 of its last 17 games heads into a matchup without two of its best players? You score just 40 points in a ten-point loss at home to Georgia.

That was the reality of the situation for Kyra Elzy and the Kentucky women’s basketball team, who entered Thursday night’s matchup against the Bulldogs without Robyn Benton and Maddie Scherr. The Wildcats’ No. 1 and No. 3 scorers were out due to injury and illness, leaving the team seriously shorthanded offensively, resulting in the lowest scoring output of the season.

“Those are two vital pieces to what we do,” coach Elzy said after the loss. “We were saddened that we could not have them, but that’s part of it part of the adversity that you have to face and be able to overcome next man up as far as them it’s day to day letting the medical team take care of them and hopefully have them back soon.”  

Kentucky would finish with 22 turnovers while shooting just 28.0% from the field, 28.6% from three and 44.4% at the line. Only two players would finish in double figures, with Blair Green leading the way with 12 (4-13 FG, 3-8 3PT) and Adebola Adeyeye adding 11 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double as a Wildcat.

Kentucky (10-14; 2-11 SEC) will take on Vanderbilt on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, with the game broadcast live on SEC Network+.

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Happy Friday, BBN. Go Cats.