No. 15 Kentucky shoots past No. 4 Tennessee on Senior Day, 85-81

Tennessee spent the last three games answering. Down eight points in the second half at home against Auburn last week. Rallying in the second half at Alabama after enduring a 17-1 run by the Crimson Tide. Taking South Carolina’s best punches on the road but still winning to clinch an SEC regular-season championship on Wednesday.

But there was no answering Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Reed Sheppard scored 27 points, going 7-for-10 from the 3-point line to lead a Kentucky barrage from behind the arc as the Wildcats rained on Tennessee’s Senior Day in an 85-81 win in Knoxville.

Dalton Knecht scored a season-high 40 points but couldn’t get nearly enough help form his teammates as No. 4 Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC) saw its seven-game win streak snapped on the final day of the regular season. Zakai Zeigler had 17 points and nine assists and Jonas Aidoo had 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

The Vols scored eight straight over a span of 40 seconds in the final minute, getting back within three points, but Josiah-Jordan James missed a three from the wing with 10.7 seconds left.

No. 15 Kentucky (23-8, 13-5) got 27 more from Antonio Reeves. Justin Edwards had 16 and Rob Dillingham scored 10. The Wildcats went 15-for-29 from the 3-point line as a team, with Sheppard seven’s supplemented by four from Edwards and three from Reeves.

A 9-0 Tennessee run that needed just 60 seconds cut a 14-point Kentucky lead down to five with 7:29 left. Aidoo had a three-point play after getting fouled at the rim, Jahmai Mashack followed with a steal and Knecht hit a three. After getting a stop, it was Zeigler’s turn from three, getting the Vols back within 68-63.

The run didn’t matter. Sheppard couldn’t miss. 

He made back-to-back threes, first with 4:02 left then with 2:35 to go, to get the lead to 11. Knecht scored on a midrange jumper on the possession that followed, giving him 40. Knecht hit a three with 13:22 left to get the lead down to eight and John Calipari got hit with a technical less than a minute later, but Jordan Gainey missed the free throw that followed the technical and Tennessee couldn’t score on the possession that followed.

Kentucky answered with another round of back-to-back 3-pointers, this time from Sheppard and Edwards, and the lead was 14, at 60-46, with 11:44 left, forcing a Tennessee timeout with the Wildcats at a blistering 11-for-22 from the 3-point line.

Kentucky built 11-point lead in first half

Kentucky built its lead to 11 points in the first half, going up 31-20 on Justin Edwards’ third 3-pointer of the game. From there, Knecht scored seven straight points over a span of one minute, 11 seconds to force a Kentucky timeout.

It was a 33-29 deficit at halftime after Aidoo dunked with three seconds left. Aidoo was Tennessee’s second-leading scorer in the first half despite having just four points. Knecht scored 19 of the 29 in the opening half, going 5-for-12 from the floor, 3-for-6 from the 3-poitn line and 6-for-8 at the foul line.

Tennessee started 5-for-27 from the field and 2-for-11 from the 3-point line before finishing the half making three of its final five shots. Zeigler played just nine minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls. 

Kentucky got 13 from Edwards and 11 from Reeves in the first half, as the two combined to go 5-for-8 from three.

Up Next: SEC Tournament, Friday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN

Tennessee now turns its attention to the postseason as the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The Vols will play the winner of Thursday’s game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds on Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.

With a double-bye into the quarterfinals, Tennessee would have to win three games in three days to win the SEC Tournament for the second time three years.

The outright SEC regular-season championship was clinched Wednesday night with Tennessee’s 66-59 win at South Carolina. It was the Vols first outright league regular-season title since 2007-08 and their third SEC championship under Rick Barnes, after sharing the 2017-18 title with Auburn and winning the 2022 SEC Tournament.

After three straight Quad 1 wins — a home win over Auburn last week at home then back-to-back road wins at Alabama and South Carolina — Tennessee moved to a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament projections according to both ESPN and CBS Sports.