Kentucky frustrates No. 5 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena, 63-56

The stage was set. No. 5 Tennessee hosting unranked Kentucky. A sellout crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena on Chris Lofton Day, with the 3-point legend’s No. 5 sent to the rafters during a halftime ceremony retiring his jersey. 

The Vols couldn’t deliver the storybook ending on the court, though.

Antonio Reeves scored 16 points, Oscar Tshiebwe had 15 points and 13 rebounds and CJ Fredrick scored 13 as Kentucky handed Tennessee a 63-56 loss, snapping a 25-game winning streak at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee (14-3, 4-1 SEC) got 19 points from Uros Plavsic and 13 points from Santiago Vescovi, but went just 3-for-20 from the 3-point line as a team.

Kentucky (11-6, 2-3) nearly doubled the Vols on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 42-23. The Cats had 13 offensive rebounds leading to 12 second-chance points.

Kentucky used a 7-0 run over 1:34 to take a 58-50 lead with 3:26 to go. Tennessee answered with six straight and had a chance to tie the game with 32 seconds left, but a Plavsic attempt bounced off the rim.

Tshiebwe collected the rebound, got fouled and made two free throws on the other end, with 31.9 left. He made one of two but Vescovi missed a driving layup with 18 seconds left.

Vescovi missed the front end of a one-and-one at the foul line with 3:51 to play, Tennessee trailing by three. Josiah-Jordan James was called for a foul on the rebound attempt and Jacob Toppin made one of two free throws on the other end.

Tshiebwe rebounded the miss and put it back to get Kentucky’s lead back to six. The Wildcats hit two more free throws after an empty Tennessee possession ended with an Olivier Nkamhoua foul, leaving the Vols down eight with with only 3:26 left after a quick 7-0 Kentucky run.

A flagrant foul issued to Kentucky gave Vescovi two free throws, getting the lead down to six, and Plavsic scored with 1:59 left to make it a 58-54 deficit. Josiah-Jordan James missed a driving layup in between the two plays, though.

Tennessee forced a Kentucky turnover with 1:20 to go, after taking a timeout, and Plavsic scored on an assist from Tyreke Key to get it back to a one-possession game, 58-56, with 1:08 left.

Kentucky took a timeout with 57.4 on the clock, only to watch Tennessee trap Cason Wallace at half court, forcing the turnover with 50 seconds left. Plavsic missed in the paint on the other end.

Key tied the game at 48-all with 5:50 to play on two free throws, after drawing a charge on the other end. Kentucky punched back immediately with a Fredrick three to go back ahead.

Plavsic in his first six minutes of the second half scored eight points, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, adding a rebound and a block.

He scored six straight early in the half to get the game back to one possession, with the Kentucky lead down to 35-32. He spun over both shoulders later, scoring for the fourth time over Tshiebwe to get the Vols back within one, at 39-38, with 12 minutes left.

Tyreke Key hit a long three from the wing to tie the game at 41-41 at the 10:26 mark and Zakai Zeigler put Tennessee back in front, 43-41, with 9:29 to go, but picked up his fourth foul 20 seconds later. Kentucky answered with five straight.

Vols trailed by eight at halftime, 33-26

Tennessee started the game on an 8-0 run, only to see Kentucky answer with 10 straight points. The Vols made just one of their last eight field goal attempts of the first half and the Wildcats went into the break with a 33-26 lead after closing the first half on a 12-2 run.

Vescovi scored seven points in the first half, but had two fouls. Julian Phillips had two early fouls of his own and Olivier Nkiamhoua and Uros Plavsic had two fouls each before halftime.

Kentucky crushed Tennessee on the glass in the opening half, 22-10. The Cats had 10 offensive rebounds, leading to seven second-chance points. 

The Vols scored 16 of their 23 points in the first half in the paint, going just 2-for-9 from the 3-point line. Kentucky finished the half 8-for-9 from the free-throw line after Tennessee was called for early fouls.

Kentucky started the game 0-for-6 from the field but made five of the next eight and rallied quickly thanks in large part to Fredrick, who had 10 points in the first half, going 3-for-7 from the field and 2-for-6 from the 3-point line.

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee at Mississippi State, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

After back-to-back home games, Tennessee is on the road for two straight, starting at Mississippi State on Tuesday at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville. It’s a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2.

The Vols go to LSU on Saturday for a 4 p.m. ET start on ESPN at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

Tennessee beat Mississippi State 87-53 on January 3 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points, leading five Vols in double-figures. Zakai Zeigler and Julian Phillips scored 11 points each and Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic both had 10. Zeigler added 10 rebounds to go with his 11 points, in his first career double-double.