|
 After heading out Sunday for a Tuesday night game, exiting ahead
of a snowstorm that dumped a foot of snow on Lexington, Kentucky was
successful in its bid to break the school record for the best start
to a season. The top-ranked Wildcats improved to 26-0 with a 66-48
Southeastern Conference win over the Volunteers at Thompson-Boling
Arena.
"We gotta come in like they're trying to kill us," Kentucky junior
forward Willie Cauley-Stein said. "The whole country wants us to
lose."
Leading just 48-44 with 9:09 left, Kentucky (26-0, 13-0 SEC) amped
up its defensive pressure and outscored Tennessee 18-4 the rest of
the way. The Volunteers (14-11, 6-7) made only two of 11 shots down
the stretch while committing three turnovers.
After shooting 52 percent in the first half, Tennessee hit just 25
percent in the second half (8 of 32).
The key moment was a four-point play with 6:54 remaining that put
Kentucky up 56-44. Freshman guard Tyler Ulis hit one free and missed
the second, but freshman Karl-Anthony Towns rebounded, scored and
was fouled. The made free throw gave the Wildcats four points with
no time leaving the clock.
 The put-back was Towns' first field-goal attempt of the game.
Kentucky's biggest lead was 18 points -- the final 66-48 tally.
"We were the aggressor in the second half," Kentucky coach John
Calipari said. "But we're still not where we need to be. We're
growing."
Freshman guard Devin Booker led Kentucky with 18 points and seven
rebounds. Sophomore guard Andrew Harrison added 14 points, and
freshman forward Trey Lyles scored 10.
Junior guard Kevin Punter led Tennessee with 14 points. He hit all
seven of his 2-point attempts but missed all five 3-point tries.
Volunteers senior guard Josh Richardson added 10 points.
"Think about this. We had 19 offensive rebounds against that team,"
Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall said. "That tells me we were playing
really, really hard."
[to top of second column] |
Kentucky's play in the opening minutes was lethargic at best.
Towns, the reigning national freshman of the week, had two fouls
within the first minute. Overall, Kentucky did not score until 3:15
passed, and at one point, the Wildcats were 3 for 9 from the floor,
including 1 for 7 from 3-point range.
Ulis helped shake Kentucky awake by hitting three field goals to put
the Wildcats up 18-13. However, Tennessee rallied by hitting seven
straight shots to lead 23-21.
The game went back and forth with five ties and three lead changes
before Kentucky went up 35-31 at halftime. Booker came off the bench
to lead Kentucky with 11 first-half points.
Tennessee got eight first-half points from Punter.
NOTES: Tuesday's game was just the second meeting between Kentucky
coach John Calipari and Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall. The first
was Nov. 13, 2009, in a 75-59 Kentucky win over Morehead State,
Calipari's first game as new Wildcats coach. ... Kentucky entered
the night with a .499 winning percentage in Knoxville. ... A
professed "shoe fanatic," Tyndall owns more than 500 pairs of
sneakers.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
