No. 10 Tennessee can't dig out of 20-point hole at Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The inconsistencies that have plagued No. 10 Tennessee in losses this season were on full display Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. The Vols dug a 20-point hole against Kentucky in the first half, heated up after halftime and fell 66-54 to the rival Wildcats.

Santiago Vescovi scored all 17 of his points in the second half for Tennessee (20-7, 9-5 SEC) and Jahmai Mashack finished with a career-high 16 points. Zakai Zeigler scored eight points to go with three assists and three turnovers while battling foul trouble. Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic combined for eight points and seven rebounds.

Tennessee played shorthanded for the second game, missing senior Josiah-Jordan James (ankle) and freshman Julian Phillips (hip), a duo that combines to average 18.5 points and 10.2 rebounds in 48.8 minutes per game.

Kentucky (18-9, 9-5), in its first regular-season sweep of the Vols during the Rick Barnes era, got 16 points and six assists from freshman guard Cason Wallace, 12 points and 10 rebounds from Chris Livingston and 16 points and seven boards from Oscar Tshiebwe. Jacob Toppin added 11.

After shooting 25.9 percent from the field in the first half, the Vols shot 46.9 percent in the first half, going 15-for-32. After going making just 1 of 13 at the 3-point line before halftime, they shot 5-for-14 from the arc in the second half.

The only consistency was free throws. Tennessee missed 4 of 14, going 0-for-6 in the second half after going 4-for-8 in the first half.

Tennessee started the second half on an 7-0 run, forcing two turnovers on Kentucky’s first three possessions out of halftime. Mashack scored to start the half, then Vescovi followed with a drive to the rim and a three from the wing to make it a 13-point game with 18:37 left.

Vescovi had 15 points in the first eight minutes of the second half — he hit three times from the 3-point line and drove to the rim for three layups — to get the lead down to 10 with 11:40 left.

It was down to nine with 8:39 left, after Mashack hit from the 3-point line. It was down to eight after Mashack drove and scored at the rim with 7:25 to go.

Kentucky kept finding answers as Tennessee chipped away at the deficit, though.

A Tshiebwe dunk after the lead was cut to 11. A wide-open baseline drive and high-flying Toppin dunk when the difference was 10. Another Toppin dunk when it was down to nine. A free throw, an offensive rebound and another free throw to get it back to 10 with 5:36 left.

Vols trailed by 20 at halftime, after scoring only 19 in first half

Kentucky led 39-19 at halftime, after Tennessee’s disastrous first half.

The Vols shot just 25.9 percent from the field, going 7-for-27, and was 1-for-13 at the 3-point line, just 7.7 percent. They couldn’t hit free throws, either, going 4-for-8 at the  line.

Tennessee was outrebounded 22-14 in the first half, too, and committed six turnovers.

Mashack, who went scoreless in 27 minutes in the win over No. 1 Alabama on Wednesday, had seven points on 3-for-7 shooting in the first half. Zeigler had five points but made just one shot from the floor.

Vescovi was scoreless, going 0-for-3 from the field, and Key had just one point, missing his three shots from the floor, too. 

Kentucky got 12 from Wallace in the first half, nine and five rebounds from both Tshiebwe and Livingston.

The Cats shot 42.9 percent from both the field (12-28) and the 3-point line (3-7) and was 12-for-13 at the foul line, using separate runs of 12-2 and 8-0 to build its commanding lead in the opening half.

Up Next: No. 10 Tennessee at Texas A&M, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

The Vols are back on the road at Texas A&M on Tuesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN at Reed Arena in College Station.

Tennessee then returns to Knoxville for back-to-back home games against South Carolina on February 25 and Arkansas on February 28, before closing the regular-season at Auburn on March 4.