What has to change for No. 5 Tennessee in its rematch against No. 15 Kentucky
The most glaring problem for Tennessee against Kentucky two weeks ago has seemingly been fixed. After going an unthinkable 11-for-45 from the 3-point line in the 78-73 loss at Food City Center, the Vols are 25-for-58 from three in three games since.
Tennessee started 5-for-5 from three in the 70-52 win at Oklahoma on Saturday. The Vols made 10 of their first 13 against Missouri in an 85-81 win on Wednesday, too.
“I think we did a good job of getting paint touches, continuing to keep the defense in rotation,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said Monday of the two wins last week. “And I thought we got some pretty good looks.”
No. 5 Tennessee at No. 15 Kentucky, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Gainey’s biggest problem with Tennessee’s first look at Kentucky was how many good looks the Wildcats got to start the game on the road.
“The first four minutes of that game,” Gainey said, “I thought they did a really good job of getting their shooters looks. And I didn’t think we did a great job of defending them.
“(Koby) Brea got that three early and then number two (Jaxson Robinson) got the three on the left side, and then 15 (Ansley Almonor) got a look. And those are three of their best shooters.”
Brea didn’t miss a three all night, going a perfect 3-for-3 while scoring a team-high 18 points. Robinson made four threes and scored 17 points. Almonor made four of his own, scoring 12.
“They were locked in,” Gainey said. “But I think we helped in that. We weren’t where we were supposed to be. We weren’t as locked in as we needed to be.”
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Now No. 5 Tennessee (20-4, 7-4 SEC) gets a shot at a do-over at No. 15 Kentucky (16-7, 5-5) on Tuesday (7 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
Coming out on the right side of it will require a better start, better effort and better focus.
“Just watching the game and seeing the effort wasn’t where it needed to be,” Gainey said, still discussing the Kentucky loss. “The attention to detail wasn’t where it needed to be. I mean, you give their best three shooters wide-open looks to start the game, right? You’re not completely locked in.”
‘I think everybody knows that we got a really good group that can compete with anybody’
The two teams went in different directions after Kentucky left Knoxville on January 28. The Wildcats went home and lost to John Calipari and Arkansas four days later, then lost 98-84 at Ole Miss after that.
Tennessee bounced back with a 64-44 win over Florida despite missing Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic Jr. The Vols made it a three-game win streak — their longest since starting the season with 13 straight wins — against Missouri and at Oklahoma.
“I think we continue to just learn from previous experiences,” Gainey said, “learn from previous games and try to continue to add to it.”
That has to happen Tuesday night at Kentucky.
“This group is locked in,” Gainey said. “I think everybody knows that we got a really good group that can compete with anybody.”
