The Kentucky team that most college basketball observers expected to see when the season began might be starting to emerge.
The Wildcats turned in their most impressive performance to date on Saturday in Knoxville, dominating No. 19 Tennessee 70-55 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Kentucky (8-13, 7-7 SEC) extended its winning streak to three, using suffocating defense to avenge a Feb. 6 loss to the Volunteers at Rupp Arena. The Cats held UT to just 32.1% from the field (18 of 56) and won the rebounding battle 43-31.
"The biggest thing is that we’re a good defensive team and we learned a little bit from the last time playing them how you have to play them," said Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose team improved to 79-0 during his time at UK when holding the opponent to 55 or fewer points. "We knew coming in that it was going to be hand-to-hand combat, and we didn’t back away."
Calipari noted that the Cats "crowded the court" more in this matchup, an adjustment made to slow down Tennessee's Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer. The freshman guards torched UK for 50 points in the 82-71 win in Lexington but combined for only 19 on 6-of-25 shooting from the field in the rematch.
Springer found the going particularly rough, failing to reach the scoring column until UK led 60-40 with 10:25 remaining.
It was a different mindset for Kentucky this time around, according to sophomore forward Keion Brooks Jr.
“Just a point of emphasis of having your teammates back," he said. "Not leaving anybody on an island so that they could get downhill on us. Check the basket. They did a great job of that last game. I feel like this game we had a much better game plan of stopping their penetration. Being out there, helping each other."
Brooks was one of four Cats in double figures on the day, scoring 10 points to go along with his career-high 14 rebounds. Isaiah Jackson (16), Davion Mintz (15), and Olivier Sarr (10) also had big games on the offensive end of the floor.
Mintz was the spark early for UK, knocking down five 3-pointers in the first half to give the Cats a 45-30 lead at the break.
“Yeah, I was burning up at the beginning," the grad transfer guard said. "... And that’s extremely helpful to do that at the beginning of the game, kind of take the air out of the other team. So that was big.”
It was a rare lopsided victory for the Cats, and one that they needed after coughing up a 12-point lead against the Vols in the previous meeting.
“It was extremely important to know that we can do that," Brooks said. "We can build these leads and finally bury a team and put a team away. It felt good to be able to keep our foot on the gas pedal the whole time. We need to build on that and do that more often.”
Tennessee (15-6, 8-6 SEC) was led by junior guard Victor Bailey Jr. with 18 points. Johnson followed with 15 after scoring 27 in the first meeting with UK. Yves Pons added 10 for the Vols.
Could this be another stepping stone for a Kentucky team seeking momentum for what will likely be a do-or-die run in the SEC Tournament?
"They’re a Top 20 team, probably a Top 15 team," Calipari said of the Vols. "They have a chance to go to a Final Four, and we came in here and did it. It’s one game and now we keep building.
"A few years ago, we were 6-7 and ended up getting to the Elite Eight I believe. We lost four in a row and everyone’s going crazy and all of a sudden the team turned it around. Like I told them after, even when they were playing bad, I believed in them. Even when individuals were so bad that it was scary, I believed in them."
*****
RAPID RECAP:
Kentucky came out firing on all cylinders, using a 15-0 run to build a nice lead that proved to be the halftime margin and the final spread. Grad transfer guard Davion Mintz was big during the key spurt, knocking down two of his five first-half 3-pointers. The Wildcats had 18 points from the arc and 14 points in transition in the first half, two areas in which they struggled for most of the season, to take a 45-30 lead into the locker room. Tennessee never got closer than that the rest of the way. Even when UK opened the second half by missing 19 of its first 22 shots from the field, the Cats were still able to build on their lead thanks to their own suffocating defense against the Vols and what has developed into some great free-throw shooting in recent games. Kentucky was 17 of 20 at the line coming off a 24-of-25 effort against Vanderbilt, at one point making 29 straight over the course of the two games.
GAME BALL:
Davion Mintz, Kentucky -- You could probably pick from any of three guys -- Mintz, Isaiah Jackson, or Keion Brooks Jr. -- for the honor today. All played key roles for the Cats. We'll go with Mintz due to his 5-for-5 shooting from the 3-point arc in the first half that staked UK to a 45-30 lead at halftime. The second half proved to be played on even terms, so Mintz was the MVP.
KEY STAT:
After getting torched by UT freshman guards Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer for 50 points in the first meeting at Rupp Arena, the Cats held the Vol duo to just 19 points on 6-for-25 shooting from the field.
QUOTABLE:
"Like I said, I believe in this team, I still do. I don’t care about the record, I don’t even know what the record is. All I want to know is that we’re getting better. That’s it. People can go crazy saying that I need to know the record, but I’m just telling you, I don’t even look at the score. I’m just coaching my team to get better." -- UK coach John Calipari
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at Rupp Arena against Texas A&M. The game will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.
