"Ugo was unbelievable": Onyenso set the tone defensively vs. Tennessee

Kentucky couldn’t stop Tennessee a month ago at Rupp Arena. The Vols owned the lane, scoring 42 points in the paint to the Cats’ 30 and outrebounding Kentucky 44-38. While the Cats’ frontcourt may not have produced offensively tonight, they found a way to slow down the Vols en route to the massive 85-81 win. A lot of that credit goes to sophomore forward Ugonna Onyenso.

Onyenso didn’t attempt a single shot vs. Tennessee but was one of the reasons Kentucky was able to take control of the game early on. The Vols were just 1-7 from the floor in the first four minutes, during which Ugo blocked two shots. He finished with four of Kentucky’s nine swats of the night. Thanks in part to his presence inside, the Cats held the Vols to 8-32 (25%) shooting and 29 points in the first half, after which the Cats led 33-29.

“Ugo was unbelievable,” John Calipari told Tom Leach afterward. “The way he defended and blocked shots, that’s who he’s got to be for us.”

Kentucky outrebounded Tennessee 42-37, with six of those boards coming from Onyenso. The Cats were much more physical than in the first meeting a month ago, as evidenced by their 11 fouls in the first half. John Calipari didn’t mind.

“The biggest thing was he rebounded,” Calipari said of Onyenso. “We just had to fight. This was one of those games, everybody’s got to be in the fight. You can’t freak out. They’re a veteran team. They very rarely lose here.”

Reed Sheppard will steal the headlines for his heroics in Knoxville, scoring 27 points including 7 huge threes, but he was more than happy to give Onyenso credit for his performance.

“That was huge,” Sheppard said of Ugo’s defense. “I mean, for him to stand in there and be physical and block shots and contest everything, whether he blocked it or he didn’t, he was huge being able to be in there.

“When you get blocked by a seven-footer, the next play, you’re not like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna go try again.’ So, Ugo, that was huge for him and for us to have him in there doing that. Super proud of Ugo. Super proud of everybody really.”

Same.

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