Saturday night was another brutal second-half crash for the Kentucky Wildcats against the Tennessee Volunteers. The Wildcats played less than 12 minutes ahead to take a 58-48 lead Brandon Boston Jr. throws a dunk in transition, but the train falls shortly afterwards from John Calipari’s team.
Tennessee used a 26-6 run to take a 10-point lead during the final timeout for the media. Kentucky could not pull together in the last minutes because Tennessee no. 11 won it 82-71.
After the match, Calipari kept it cruelly honest with regard to his team’s struggle.
“I do not yet know what to tell you,” he said. via Kyle Tucker. “We play well enough to win and then hit a piece where we can not get a basket.”
It was a struggle all season for Kentucky, which dropped to 5-12 on the season. Calipari was also asked about when he would start thinking about next season.
“I’m worried about the next game,” he said. “We are not that far!”
“I’m not thinking about next year,” he continues. “I owe it to these kids and this program to do everything in my power to turn it around.”
The Wildcats had no answer for first-year guards in Tennessee Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer. Johnson finished with 27 points and Springer scored 23 to lead the Vols. Kentucky is now 5-12 on the season.
A career evening for Keion Brooks was not enough to pull the struggling Wildcats to the finish line. He recorded a career high of 23 points and in the loss recorded 11 setbacks. First year guard Devin Askew also scored a career high of 14 points. Senior Forward Olivier Sarr also added 14 points in the loss.
Tennessee was in serious trouble throughout the first half. Appetizers John Fulkerson and Santiago Vescovi both made two fouls just four minutes into the game, limiting their minutes for the rest of the half. The Vols had six players with two fouls at halftime. Kentucky spent most of the first half in the bonus and utilized it. The Wildcats are 13 of 15 off the line and lead 42-34 at halftime despite shooting just 35 percent from the floor. The 42 points were most conceded by the Tennessee defense in the first half this season.
Kentucky’s score was balanced in the first half, with Brooks taking the lead with 11 points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes. Sarr added nine points. Askew had one of the best halves in months and finished with eight points on three of three shots and no turnover.
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Kentucky led 58-48 11:57 after Boston’s blow in the transition. The Vols responded the next few minutes with 12 consecutive points to take a 60-58 lead. Devin Askew knocked down a tough runner to stop Tennessee’s run and give Kentucky his first bucket in more than three minutes. However, Kentucky could not slow down Tennessee’s run. It was an easy matter for the Vols from there.
CatsPause contributed to this story.