LEXINGTON, Ky. — What was expected to be one of the toughest games remaining on Kentucky’s basketball schedule looked more like a walkover for the Wildcats for much of Saturday afternoon.
A UK team still fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament earned a major check mark on its résumé with a 66-54 victory over No. 10 Tennessee in Rupp Arena, sweeping the Volunteers in the regular season for the first time in more than a decade.
Both teams started out slow offensively, but the Cats broke out of their funk first and built an early 10-2 lead amid Tennessee’s horrid shooting in the first few minutes. The Vols missed 10 of their first 11 shots from the field.
Kentucky never took its foot off the gas in the first half. With only a handful of empty seats in a raucous Rupp Arena, the Cats didn’t trail the entire afternoon and led by double digits for the final 6:10 before the break.
The halftime score: Kentucky 39, Tennessee 19. It was just the third time UK had led an opponent by 20 or more points at halftime this season. (The others were Howard and North Florida early in the season.) It was the Wildcats’ first such halftime advantage in Southeastern Conference play since 2019.
Freshman point guard Cason Wallace led Kentucky with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Other than the final 29 seconds of the first half, Wallace played the entire game. Fellow freshman Chris Livingston tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Jacob Toppin joined them in double figures with 11 points.
Tennessee started the second half with a 7-0 flurry — forcing John Calipari to call a timeout less than two minutes into the period — but the Vols didn’t get within single digits of the Wildcats until Jahmai Mashack hit a 3-pointer with 8:39 left to cut UK’s lead to 55-46.
The Volunteers never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
The bracketology boards had Kentucky on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble following the Wildcats’ road victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday night. This win — over the No. 3 team in the NCAA’s NET ratings — will further bolster UK’s profile. This was the first time Kentucky has swept the regular-season series with Tennessee since 2012, when the Cats went on to win the national championship.
Tennessee defeated No. 1-ranked Alabama on Wednesday night, handing the Crimson Tide their first loss in SEC play.
With the win on Saturday, the Wildcats (18-9) moved into a tie with Tennessee (20-7) for third place in the SEC standings. Both teams are now 9-5 in the league with four games to go.
Kentucky plays at Florida on Wednesday night, a chance for a third consecutive Quad 1 victory for its NCAA Tournament résumé.
