Kentucky led for 34 seconds Saturday — and won the game. That’s all anyone really needs to know about Tennessee’s 80-78 collapse against the Wildcats.
Kentucky led for 34 seconds Saturday — and won the game.
That’s all anyone really needs to know about Tennessee’s 80-78 collapse against the Wildcats.
The Volunteers (12-6, 2-3 in Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 17 in the first half. At that time, attitude was great and intensity was off the charts.
With 3:25 left in the first half, a 3-pointer from Amaree Abrams pushed Tennessee’s lead to 41-24.
As quickly as the Vols’ advantage exploded, it eroded. Kentucky scored seven straight, and Tennessee added one.
Then came halftime.
“A 17-point lead in today’s world is nothing,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “(Losing that lead) really started in the first half.”
“I felt great at halftime,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “Only being down 11, I felt we won the first half.”
Tennessee, a team that prides itself on defense, yielded 49 points in the second half. That’s a number that is going to keep Barnes up at night.
Kentucky was getting pushed around the floor most of the first half. The Wildcats had just one offensive rebound. By the end of the game, they had 14 offensive boards.
The evaporation of Tennessee’s advantage came as a slow trickle — but was never reversed. It got down to single digits early in the second half and kept going like sand in an hourglass — just waiting for time to run out on the Vols.
Denzel Aberdeen took over the game, scoring 18 of his 22 points in the final 20 minutes.
With Tennessee leading, 77-76, Ja’Kobi Gillespie nonchalantly threw a pass intended for Nate Ament. Collin Chandler leapt into the passing lane and picked it off. He hit Otega Oweh with a pass for an easy layup and go-ahead points with 34 seconds left.
“I heard the play they were running,” Chandler said. “They kind of telegraphed it a little bit.”
“Other than Florida, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot so many times,” said Barnes.
What’s bound to happen Monday is the end of a 90-week streak stretching over more than five seasons. The Vols came into the game ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll. The loss will almost surely cause Tennessee to drop out of the poll, ending the second-longest active streak in the country. Only Houston is longer.
More important than a ranking, the Vols have a week to put the pieces back together in time for their next game at Alabama.
There are obvious statistics that will have to change.
- Ament scored 17 points but only took seven shots.
- Jaylin Carey, who started in place of DeWayne Brown II, took 12 shots, making three.
- Kentucky shot 6 of 10 from 3-point in the second half. That can’t be allowed.
- Tennessee committed three turnovers in the last 4 minutes.
- Kentucky had 19 second-chance points.
- The Wildcats’ bench outscored Tennessee’s 36-22.
- J.P. Estrella, who started at one point this season, had four points and no rebounds.
Lots of work to do. There’s still time to recover.