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Cats blister nets in 107-79 rout of Vols

Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler drove past Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler during the Wildcats' 107-79 win over the Volunteers on Saturday at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler drove past Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler during the Wildcats' 107-79 win over the Volunteers on Saturday at Rupp Arena. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Going into Saturday's SEC clash with Tennessee, Kentucky head coach John Calipari predicted a "war" that might come down to whichever team had the ball last.

The UK boss missed the mark. The Wildcats seldom missed theirs.

Riding one of the best team shooting performances in the program's illustrious history, No. 18 Kentucky overwhelmed No. 22 Tennessee 107-79 at a raucous Rupp Arena.

The Cats flirted with a school record, hitting 38 of 56 shots from the field (67.9%) against a Volunteer defense that entered the matchup ranked No. 2 nationally in Ken Pomeroy's defensive rankings. Midway through the second half, UK was over the 80% mark, missing only seven of its first 35 attempts.

Kentucky (14-3, 4-1 SEC) got a dominant performance from its backcourt, which is emerging as one of the best in the nation. TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler, Kellen Grady, and Davion Mintz combined for 75 points on 27-of-36 shooting from the field.

Washington led the way with a career-high 28 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Wheeler, returning to action after missing two games due to a neck injury, responded with 21 points and eight assists. Grady and Mintz added 16 and 10 points, respectively, and made six of their 10 attempts from 3-point range.

“I think we could be like this on most nights," Wheeler said. "We are not going to be having too many more L's on us for the rest of the year. We shared the ball, we made shots, and we played with good pace. And above all that, we started on the defensive end by getting rebounds and doing what we do best, which is running.”

It marked an important win for Kentucky, which needed to add a victory over a ranked opponent to its resume. The Cats had come up just short in previous opportunities against Duke and LSU.

“I feel like we proved not only to other people, but to ourselves, that you know we can play with anybody in the country," Washington said. "We’ve always felt like we can play with anybody in the country, not just us beating up on smaller schools. We’ve always felt like we can compete with the best of the best, and it felt like tonight we showed that.”

Junior big man Oscar Tshiebwe chipped in with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Cats.

Tennessee (11-5, 2-3 SEC) was led by junior guard Santiago Vescovi with 20 points and freshman guard Kennedy Chandler with 17.

The Volunteers shot an impressive 53% from the field and made 11 3-pointers but trailed by as many as 32 points in the second half. Twenty turnovers contributed to their issues, leading to 32 points for the Cats.

“You simply can’t give a team this good that many points on turnovers," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "They are going to shoot 80% if you let them get those run-out dunks and those run-outs, for they were getting to the corner. They’re going to shoot it, and when you’re making those shots, it’s tough."

On a day that Kentucky honored former national championship coach Joe B. Hall, who passed away Saturday at age 93, the Cats denied the Vols becoming the first opponent to win three straight games in Lexington in more than 100 years.

Calipari had the Cats open the game in Hall's favorite 1-3-1 zone defense, a strategy he had often urged the UK coach to utilize in recent years, and rolled up a program in honor of the former coach's trademark gameday habit.

"This was a celebration for Coach Hall, as was the rolled-up program, which I will bring out to every game this year to finish it out," Calipari said.

*****

In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...

KEY MOMENT:

It's hard to pinpoint just one moment in a game where a team leads by as many as 32 points, but it felt like something special was in the air at Rupp Arena prior to tipoff. It was the fans' first opportunity to see a ranked team at the venue this season, and the emotions of facing the rival Vols and honoring the memory of Joe B. Hall seemed to elevate UK to a new level on Saturday. Hall always maintained that he looked forward to the Tennessee games on the schedule more than any other. It was fitting that the Cats honored him with that kind of performance.

GAME BALL:

TyTy Washington, Kentucky -- It's hard to envision another guard in the country playing better than the Wildcats' elite freshman right now. After filling in for three games at the point for Sahvir Wheeler, setting a school assists record in the process, he seamlessly moved back to the 2 today and delivered a game-high 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

BY THE NUMBERS:

1st - Time an opponent has scored 100-plus points against Tennessee in 15 years. No one had broken 80 against the Vols this season.

27-1 - Kentucky's advantage in fast-break points.

46 of 69 - UK scored on all but 23 possessions in the game, posting a season-high 1.55 points per possession.

78.6% - The Cats' first-half field-goal percentage. It marked the best in any half since shooting 84.2% (16 of 19) vs. Alabama on March 10 of the 2018 SEC Tournament. The school record for a game is 76.5% (13 of 17) in 1981 against Notre Dame.

107 - The most points scored by UK against an AP Top 25 opponent since a 1994 matchup with Vanderbilt.

158-75 - Kentucky's record in the all-time series with Tennessee, it's oldest and most-played rival. The Cats are 93-19 in Lexington against the Vols.

QUOTABLE:

"The greatest thing in all this was he knew what people thought and how much he was appreciated and beloved before he passed. He knew. Our fans have been so great to him." -- UK coach John Calipari on the passing of former Wildcat coach Joe B. Hall.

UP NEXT:

Kentucky travels to Texas A&M on Wednesday for an 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff on the SEC Network. The Aggies (14-2, 3-0 SEC) are playing this afternoon at Missouri.

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