FINAL: Kentucky rallies again in second half to upset Tennessee in Knoxville 80-78

It was déjà vu all over again for Kentucky — the good kind, too.

After overcoming an 18-point second-half deficit against LSU earlier this week on the road, the Wildcats fought back from a 17-point first-half deficit on the road against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, securing a huge 80-78 win over the Volunteers in Knoxville. Kentucky trailed by 11 points at the break and led for exactly 34 seconds of this game, all of that coming down the stretch as the ‘Cats slowly trimmed down the Tennessee lead throughout the second half.

Denzel Aberdeen led all scorers for UK with 22 points, while three of his teammates finished with 12 points: Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, and Jasper Johnson. Mo Dioubate rounded out Kentucky’s double-figure scorers with 10 points and six rebounds before fouling out late. Tennessee did not score a single field goal for the final 5:38 of game time.

Both teams shot 47 percent from the field and over 40 percent from deep. After Tennessee dominated the offensive glass in the first half, Kentucky showed much more fight in the second half to claw back into the game. Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament combined for 41 of the Volunteers’ points.

Kentucky just can’t help but shoot itself in the foot with these slow starts. We saw another one in Knoxville from the Wildcats. Aberdeen picking up a pair of early fouls didn’t help, but Tennessee made three of its first four three-point attempts and took an early 14-8 lead at the first media timeout. The Vols would quickly jump out to a 20-8 lead as Kentucky was again down double-digits in a first half. But Johnson would at least find a way to keep the ‘Cats from being fully blown out. His eight points through the first couple of segments allowed UK to make it a 22-16 game.

But Johnson, who was up to 12 points (5-6 FG) by halftime, wasn’t getting much help from his teammates. A poorly-timed field goal drought for Kentucky allowed the Vols to push their advantage back to double figures, 31-20. That deficit would reach as many as 17 points before a mini-run from Johnson closed that gap to just 10. At the break, Tennessee was in front 42-31 thanks to eight turnovers from the ‘Cats and an 8-1 offensive rebounding edge for the Vols.

The locker room speech from head coach Mark Pope must have ignited his team out of the break. Thanks to a couple of Aberdeen threes, Kentucky won the first segment 11-6 to cut the Volunteer lead down to just six points. A few possessions later, Chandler would get the friendly roll on a three-pointer that made it just a four-point game in favor of the Vols, 55-51. UK would start the second half 5-7 from deep to keep the score within four points with 10 minutes to play.

Kentucky continued to slowly chip away from there. The deficit would eventually shrink to just three a couple of times, the latter resulting in an and-one finish from Malachi Moreno off a Johnson assist. Moreno would convert the freebie to make it just a two-point game with under eight minutes to go. Tennessee had multiple chances to balloon its lead, but an Oweh steal-and-slam kept the ‘Cats down four at the final media timeout.

Dioubate would cut the Tennessee lead down to just one with 90 seconds on the game clock after a made floater. The Vols would go one-for-two at the free-throw line the next time down before Pope called a timeout. Oweh would get fouled out of the break, but went just 1-2 at the stripe — UK now trailing 77-76 with 45 seconds. But Chandler came up with a huge steal, leading to an Oweh and-one finish the other way. He missed the freebie, but Dioubate would grab the offensive board. Aberdeen wore the shot clock all the way down before finding a way to get a layup to drop.

Just like that, Kentucky was in front 80-77 with 13 seconds left as Tennessee called a timeout with the ball. The Vols would miss a three-pointer but scooped up the offensive rebound. Dioubate was tagged with a foul (his fifth) that sent UT to the line down three with just 2.6 seconds on the clock. The first free throw dropped, but after missing the second on purpose, the Vols couldn’t get off another shot, gifting UK a massive road win.

Kentucky sure knows how to make these games nerve-racking, huh?

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