Postgame notes and interviews from Kentucky's loss to Tennessee

Tennessee was able to exact its revenge against Kentucky on Tuesday night, coming away with a 76-63 win down in Knoxville after getting embarrassed by 28 points a month prior in Rupp Arena. It was a complete 180 performance for the ‘Cats from the first matchup, as the Vols came out with far more energy and physicality. Kentucky had poor outings from Kellan Grady and Keion Brooks Jr. while an injured TyTy Washington was a shell of himself.

All in all, it was a game that Kentucky will look to forget immediately. But as John Calipari says, we must first grieve for at least a night before moving on. With that in mind, let’s hear from Calipari and Jacob Toppin before diving into the postgame notes, courtesy of UK Athletics.

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John Calipari

Jacob Toppin

Final Score: No. 16/13 Tennessee 76, No. 4/3 Kentucky 63

Team Records, Series Notes, Etc.

• Kentucky is now 21-5 on the season, ending a six-game winning streak. UK is 10-3 in the SEC.
• Tennessee has won five in a row, eight in a row in SEC play, and is 19-6 overall, 10-3 in the SEC. 

• With the teams splitting during the regular season, UK leads the series, 158-76.
  • UK leads 57-53 in games played in Knoxville, ending UK’s two-game win streak in Thompson-Boling Arena.
• Next for UK: the Wildcats return home for two games, beginning Saturday vs. Alabama. Tipoff is 1 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS.

Team Notes

• Kentucky, the nation’s leader in rebound margin, won the rebounding tonight 40-32.
• UK led in offensive rebounds, 18-6, and second-chance points, 16-4.
• The last time the Wildcats lost on the road as the nation’s No. 4 ranked team by the Associated Press was to No. 7 Tennessee in Knoxville, 71-52, on March 2, 2019
• With TyTy Washington Jr. missing all but 45 seconds of the second half, UK has played just 12 complete games this season at full strength.

Player Notes  

• Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds. 
  • It is his eighth-straight double-double.
  • It is his 20th double-double of the season, ranking second in the nation in that category.
    • He is the seventh player in program history to have at least 20 double-doubles in a single season and the first since Julius Randle had 24 in 2013-14.
  • The nation’s leading rebounder has grabbed double-figure boards in all but two games this season.
  • He has 13 straight games with double-figure rebounds, longest streak with game-by-game rebounds available since the 1967-68 season.
  • Had two steals tonight, his 10th straight game with at least two thefts.
• After missing the Florida game because of an ankle injury, Jacob Toppin came back strong with 11 points and six rebounds.
• Davion Mintz tallied 11 points.
  • Over the last five games, he has averaged 12 points and made 13 of 28 from long range.
• Kellan Grady tallied six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
  • Has made a 3-pointer in 20 straight games, most since Jamal Murray made a 3 in all 36 games of the 2015-16 season. 
  • Grady has made at least two 3-pointers in eight straight games.
  • Playing 37 minutes, he has led the team in minutes played in the last nine games.
• TyTy Washington Jr. played 12 minutes but exited in the first minute of the second half and did not return. He finished with four points and three assists.
  • He has averaged 14.2 points in the 20 wins in which he has played this season, vs. 5.6 points per game in UK’s five losses.
• Sahvir Wheeler, the SEC leader in assists, had five tonight to go along with eight points and four rebounds.

Coach John Calipari

• Calipari is now 360-98 at UK.
  • UK is 66-42 against Associated Press ranked competition under Calipari.
• Calipari has an 805-238 all-time on-court record. 
• Calipari has tallied a 377-119 all-time record within conference play as a head coach and owns a 169-53 record since joining the SEC.
• Calipari is 19-14 vs. Tennessee.  

In the First Half

• The starting lineup was Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington Jr., Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwefor the 22nd time this season. That lineup now has a 17-5 record.
• Jacob Toppin was the first Kentucky substitution at the 15:06 mark, the team-high 14th time this season that he has been first off the bench.
• With UK leading 10-7, after a foul was called on Tshiebwe at the 16:14 mark, Calipari was assessed a technical foul.
• With UK leading 17-15, Tennessee’s 17-1 run gave the Volunteers a 32-18 lead.
• After Toppin’s layup at 13:57, the Wildcats didn’t make a basket for almost 11 minutes, until Davion Mintz swished a 3-pointer at the 3:00 mark. 
• Tennessee went to halftime ahead 46-32.  UK is 1-3 this season when trailing at intermission.
• Tshiebwe led UK in the first half with eight points and six rebounds.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
• Early in the half, Tennessee lengthened its lead at 51-34.
• Kentucky replied with a 9-0 run to pull within 51-43 but the Wildcats got no closer.
• Ahead 53-45, Tennessee put the game away with a 12-0 run for a 65-45 bulge.