10 Takeaways From Kentucky's Loss To Tennessee In Knoxville

Tennessee got its revenge Tuesday night in Knoxville with a win over your University of Kentucky Wildcats in historic Thompson-Boling Arena. The new-look Volunteers were hungrier and better in the rematch, while Kentucky had one of its worst overall performances of the season. Statistically, it was the worst shooting night of the year: 34.3%.

The result was a 63-76 defeat for John Calipari’s basketball program against a team it had beaten by 28 points in Lexington, one month ago to the date.

What went wrong this time around? Well, pretty much everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Let’s list some of the wrongs before we regroup Wednesday morning to put all of this behind us and move on to a better life.

Here are 10 takeaways from the night, none of which are good because nothing is good when you lose to Tennessee.

“We got manhandled”

John Calipari called it as he saw it in his postgame press conference: “We got manhandled,” he said.

“What it appeared to me is, they needed it more, wanted it more, more physical, took us out of stuff physically, and then physically banged us around offensively. They deserved to win.”

Calipari called it a bump-and-grind kind of game and Tennessee was up for the fight more than the visiting Wildcats. With a full building of fans, added motivation from the first meeting, and hot-shooting at home, Tennessee took it to Kentucky and the Cats are lucky the final score isn’t worse.

Who had Rob Harris technical foul on their BINGO card?

The game really turned upside down for Kentucky when both teams were given first-half technical fouls for a confrontation in front of Kentucky’s bench. On Kentucky’s end, it was sixth-year strength and conditioning coach Rob Harris who earned the technical foul for his role in the scuffle.

Harris was involved because John Fulkerson landed at his feet near the end of Kentucky’s bench, but it didn’t get chippy until Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler gave Harris a shove as Zeigler and his teammates rushed to check on Fulkerson. Harris of course took offense to Zeigler putting his hands on him; from there, it became a standoff between the two sides until officials and coaches pulled everyone their separate ways. Zeigler was also given a technical for instigating.

Whatever you make of Harris’ involvement from a very uninvolved role, there is no denying its adverse effect on the game, whether his fault or not. Because after the offsetting technicals, Tennessee regained the lead and brought life back into the arena for a 17-to-1 scoring run.

John Calipari can’t be too mad. He got his own technical foul four minutes into the game and it gave Tennessee its first lead of the night.

TyTy Washington gave it a shot; Calipari wishes he hadn’t

Second to the loss, TyTy Washington is the next biggest story of the night. Washington wasn’t expected to play at all with the lower leg injury he suffered last Saturday; then word leaked on game day that he intended to give it a go. By tip-off, Washington was in his usual spot in Kentucky’s starting backcourt, but his appearance may have done more harm than good.

Moments into the second half, Washington went down favoring his left leg and never returned to the game. He had just turned the ball over for the third time and spent the remainder of the game on the bench, visibly frustrated by some combination of the game’s score, his own play, or whatever was bothering his leg.

After the game, Calipari wished he hadn’t played Washington at all. “I shouldn’t have played him,” Calipari admitted. “He convinced me. That was my gut, normally I go with my gut, but I shouldn’t have.”

Calipari did not know if Washington reaggravated the leg injury or if the game was too much too soon. Calipari will have an opportunity to provide a Washington update Wednesday night on his call-in show.

One positive update on the injury report: Jacob Toppin returned from his ankle injury for 20 reserve minutes. He matched Davion Mintz’s 11 points off the bench plus six rebounds, three of which were offensive boards. Toppin actually played better than the starter, Keion Brooks.

Kellan Grady was a non-factor on a night Kentucky needed 3s

Before the game, it was hard to imagine a scenario with Kentucky winning and Kellan Grady not having a big night, so it was extra detrimental to UK’s chances when Grady didn’t deliver. Kentucky’s sharpshooter didn’t even take his first shot until four minutes left in the first half with Kentucky already down 13. He missed.

No one else on the team was afraid to shoot (another problem) but it was the team’s best shooter, Grady, who couldn’t or wouldn’t get his shot off. Tennessee’s defense played a big hand in containing Grady around the perimeter, but the disappearance further proved he isn’t as useful without a creator, someone like a healthy TyTy Washington, to draw attention for him to get open looks.

Grady finished the night 2-of-9 from the field for six points. He could stand to borrow a little bit of Davion Mintz’s shooting confidence. Kentucky could prioritize getting him open looks a little better, too.

Oscar Tshiebwe also struggled

Add Oscar to the list of players who didn’t bring their best stuff to Knoxville. Though still dominant on the boards with a casual 15, Tshiebwe again struggled against length and couldn’t get anything to go in around the rim.

At 5-of-15 from the field, mostly in the paint, his shot chart is ugly:

As a team, Kentucky went 7-for-24 on layups in a frustrating performance in the paint. The ball wouldn’t go in over Tennessee’s trees.

Tshiebwe still had a double-double though, his 20th in 26 games this season. Unreal.

Tennessee had the better backcourt by far

Tennessee had the better guards Tuesday night and it wasn’t particularly close. Freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler and veteran Santiago Vescovi combined for 35 themselves, more than Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington, Kellan Grady, and Davion Mintz combined. From behind the arc, Chandler and Vescovi hit five 3-pointers, tying Kentucky’s entire team on seven fewer attempts. They kept their turnovers down, too. Nobody in Tennessee’s starting lineup had a turnover in the game.

Then off the bench, backup point guard Zakai Zeigler scored 14 points of his own when he wasn’t trying to fight opposing staff members. He’s almost as tough as the others and it was all too much for Kentucky’s wounded backcourt to handle.

Adding to the frustration, Sahvir Wheeler may have suffered a minor wrist injury as he was seen holding it on the bench late in the game. Wrist aside, Wheeler is another Wildcat who played poorly. He was out of control early on, more so than usual, and there was a point in the second half when he led Kentucky with 10 shot attempts. The recipe didn’t call for Wheeler taking the most shots.

Defense buckled down in the second half, but the damage was done

You wouldn’t know it by the final score but Kentucky actually played pretty good defense in the second half to give the Wildcats a fighting chance. Kentucky even won the second half on the scoreboard. Tennessee wasn’t getting good looks and Kentucky trimmed the lead to eight off the Vols’ new offensive struggles out of halftime. But right when things started looking up, Kentucky fell into another scoring slump and the comeback dreams were dead. A Zeigler 3-pointer was the final dagger.

Three times in the game Kentucky went four-plus minutes without a basket. To be so efficient offensively, this team sure loves a good scoring drought, especially when Washington is unavailable.

Hopefully that was the last time we see John Fulkerson

Unlike the first meeting this year, Fulkerson played well in what could’ve been his final game against Kentucky. He had 14 and eight off the bench while giving Tshiebwe trouble with his length defensively.

If it was Fulkerson’s last run-in with the Cats, he will retire with seven career wins in the rivalry. Please stay seated and give him no applause for his accomplishments.

Not a game for Dontaie Allen or Bryce Hopkins, Calipari said

Even with TyTy Washington out and struggles at every position, Calipari still didn’t see a way Dontaie Allen or Bryce Hopkins could contribute. Allen got one chance in the second half but was pulled seconds later for getting beat backdoor. Hopkins, who relieved Allen, also got beat backdoor before he was called back to the bench for the rest of the night. Hopkins made it one minute.

After the game, Calipari said, “I wasn’t angry with Dontaie or Bryce. They got beat on backdoors, you know, where they stopped playing and Dontaite fouled, but they haven’t played that much. I was throwing them in just hoping maybe someone would give us something, and they couldn’t. How could you expect them to? I haven’t played them much.”

Tennessee’s win had implications on Kentucky’s SEC Tournament seeding

By beating Kentucky, Tennessee’s streak is up to eight straight league wins and the Vols are tied for second place in the conference with the head-to-head tiebreaker over UK. In a surprising turn of events, the Vols now control their own destiny for the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament, but with a much more difficult road ahead.

Rather than worrying, what do you say we put this loss behind us like it didn’t matter and finish the season out by winning every game? Come on, give me your best CATS chant before you go. There it is. That’s the spirit.

Alabama comes to Rupp Arena on Saturday.

Go Cats.