That was Kentucky's first two-game sweep of Tennessee since 2012

There are few better feelings as a Kentucky Basketball fan than watching the Wildcats beat those low-down, dirty snitches from Knoxville, the Tennessee Volunteers. Today, Big Blue Nation felt those feelings again after Kentucky defended its home court against Tennessee with a second win in the rivalry this regular season. The Wildcats won the first game in Knoxville back in January, 63-56.

With wins in both regular season games, Kentucky completed its first two-game sweep of Tennessee since the 2011-12 season. Remember that year? I think you do. A reminder, it ended like this:

So not since winning the national championship has Kentucky beaten Tennessee twice in the home-and-home, and it brought the record in the recent 10-game history back to .500.

Kentucky’s record vs. Tennessee under John Calipari

Date	Game	Result	Score
2/18/2023	Tennessee at Kentucky	W	66 – 54
1/14/2023	Kentucky at (#5) Tennessee	W	63 – 56
3/12/2022	(#5) Kentucky vs. (#9) Tennessee	L	62 – 69	SEC Tournament (at Tampa, FL)
2/15/2022	(#4) Kentucky at (#16) Tennessee	L	63 – 76
1/15/2022	(#22) Tennessee at (#18) Kentucky	W	107 – 79
2/20/2021	Kentucky at (#19) Tennessee	W	70 – 55
2/6/2021	(#11) Tennessee at Kentucky	L	71 – 82
3/3/2020	Tennessee at (#6) Kentucky	L	73 – 81
2/8/2020	(#15) Kentucky at Tennessee	W	77 – 64
3/16/2019	(#4) Kentucky vs. (#8) Tennessee	L	78 – 82	SEC Tournament (at Nashville, TN)
3/2/2019	(#4) Kentucky at (#7) Tennessee	L	52 – 71
2/16/2019	(#1) Tennessee at (#5) Kentucky	W	86 – 69
3/11/2018	Kentucky vs. (#13) Tennessee	W	77 – 72	SEC Tournament Championship (at St. Louis, MO)
2/6/2018	(#15) Tennessee at (#24) Kentucky	L	59 – 61
1/6/2018	(#17) Kentucky at (#23) Tennessee	L	65 – 76
2/14/2017	Tennessee at (#13) Kentucky	W	83 – 58
1/24/2017	(#4) Kentucky at Tennessee	L	80 – 82
2/18/2016	Tennessee at (#14) Kentucky	W	80 – 70
2/2/2016	(#20) Kentucky at Tennessee	L	77 – 84
2/17/2015	(#1) Kentucky at Tennessee	W	66 – 48
1/18/2014	Tennessee at (#13) Kentucky	W	74 – 66
2/16/2013	(#25) Kentucky at Tennessee	L	58 – 88
1/15/2013	Tennessee at Kentucky	W	75 – 65
1/31/2012	Tennessee at (#1) Kentucky	W	69 – 44
1/14/2012	(#2) Kentucky at Tennessee	W	65 – 62
3/6/2011	(#20) Kentucky at Tennessee	W	64 – 58
2/8/2011	Tennessee at (#18) Kentucky	W	73 – 61
3/13/2010	(#2) Kentucky vs. (#15) Tennessee	W	74 – 45	SEC Tournament (at Nashville, TN)
2/27/2010	(#2) Kentucky at (#19) Tennessee	L	65 – 74
2/13/2010	(#12) Tennessee at (#3) Kentucky	W	73 – 62
2/21/2009	Tennessee at Kentucky	W	77 – 58

To save you the trouble of counting, he is 19-12 overall in the series as head coach at Kentucky. Although, only 9-10 in the games since Rick Barnes took over in Knoxville.

John Calipari on the win and Kentucky improving

“Look, Rick (Barnes) is a great coach,” Calipari explained in his postgame press conference. “Obviously, you know, he’s a great friend. But he, they went to a weave and all they were doing is dribble-drive. So they said, forget all this screening and all this other stuff. They’re fighting us. So now we’re just going to space the court and try to dribble-drive. And we’ll make threes and fade screens and all that. They totally changed how they played.”

On his own team’s changes, Calipari said, “I’ve said all along we were going to breakthrough. We’ve had two losses that you would like to have back. We’ve had other games, really the first game, but, you know what, none of that matters now. Everything is us going forward. So we have a tough game. We got road games, two tough road games. We got two tough home games. Play the games. Let’s see how we are. Let’s see if we get healthy. Let’s see if we get better.”