Imagine the Tennessee loss without Rob Dillingham

If you thought Kentucky’s 103-92 loss to Tennessee was bad, imagine it without Rob Dillingham. The freshman had a career night vs. the Vols, finishing with 35 points on 14-20 from the floor, 6-8 from three. Seventeen of those points came in the first half, helping Kentucky stay within striking distance of the Vols at halftime. Per Corey Price, Dillingham’s 35 points are the most ever scored by a Kentucky player against Tennessee in Rupp Arena, topping the previous record held by Kenny Walker in 1985. He joins Terrance Jones, Jamal Murray, Malik Monk, and De’Aaron Fox as Kentucky freshmen to score at least 35 points in a game.

Unfortunately, it was all for naught. Dillingham was one of just three Wildcats to finish in double figures, the others being Antonio Reeves (21 points) and Reed Sheppard (16 points). The four other Kentucky players who scored (Adou Thiero, Justin Edwards, Ugonna Onyenso, Aaron Bradshaw) combined for just 20.

Rob Dillingham Went off vs Tennessee in a Tough Loss tonight..

35 PTS (14-20 FG, 6-8 3PT)
4 AST
2 REBS
1 STL

How we feeling RN? pic.twitter.com/RTmCVmxalT

— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) February 4, 2024

“Robert did well,” John Calipari said in his postgame press conference. “Robert kept us in the game. I mean, in the first half we were down four [points] because Robert made basket after basket.”

Yes, he did. Dillingham picked up his fourth foul with 12:07 to go, but Calipari subbed him back in at the 9:23 mark when Tennessee led by 13 and he scored six of Kentucky’s next eight points and assisted on the Reed Sheppard three that cut the lead to seven. He kept chipping away until he fouled out with 20 seconds remaining.

“He was single-handedly keeping us in the game offensively,” Orlando Antigua said while subbing in for Calipari on the postgame radio show. “Coach got on him a little bit about that, picking up that fourth foul and just being smart and understanding that you got to kind of try to help us to stay out there. If you can, as much as you can, but he was great.”

Hopefully, we can celebrate Dillingham’s next career night with a victory.