No. 8 Tennessee basketball suffered another conference setback, falling 78-73 at home to No. 12 Kentucky.
No. 8 Tennessee basketball lost 78-73 to the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night in front of a sold-out, overcapacity crowd of 22,272 at Food City Center.
This is the Volunteers’ first home defeat of the season, as well as their first loss in back-to-back games this season.
Positively, Kentucky ceased a two-game losing streak and climbed back above .500 in league play. Tuesday’s victory was their sixth over an AP top-15 team, tying the program record from the 2002-2003 season.
Koby Brea led the Wildcats’ offense with 18 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting, including 13 in the second half. Tennessee forward Igor Milicic Jr led the contest with a game-high 19 points on 60% shooting.
Zakai Zeigler injured his right knee in the first half.
Tennessee fans were worried about Zakai Zeigler going into halftime.
The Vols guard drove to the basket and seemed to hyperextend his right knee. He jumped up and rushed straight for the Tennessee bench, staggering off the court and down the tunnel.
Rick Barnes expressed uncertainty due to Zakai Zeigler’s reaction.
“For him to run off the court it worries me because I’ve never seen him do that,” Barnes explained. “I would expect him to bounce right back up but it’s something for him to do that. I’m worried about it, really.”
Good news for Tennessee: Zeigler’s hyperextension occurred in his right knee after missing the end of the 2022-23 season and part of the 2023-24 season due to a damaged ACL in his left knee.
Zakai Zeigler made history.
Zeigler scored 13 points in Tennessee’s game on Tuesday night, bringing his total to over 1,300 points in college. Zeigler is only the second player in Southeastern Conference history to have 1,300 points, 600 assists, and 200 steals in their career.
Takeaway #1: Tennessee allows a season-best offensive performance
Kentucky struggled on the road this season, finishing 1-3 in true away games. This was not true in Tuesday night’s triumph.
UK entered the game as one of the nation’s strongest three-point shooting teams, and they shot the ball extremely well against Tennessee.
The Wildcats made 12 of 24 three-point tries, accounting for 48% of their total field goals made.
Kentucky took an early lead by converting four of its first five three-pointers, and it repeated the process to begin the second half. The Wildcats stopped Tennessee’s momentum as they exited the locker room.
That strong shooting stretch transformed Kentucky’s three-point halftime deficit into an 11-point lead.
Tennessee could not overcome the spectacular 3-point shooting by the Wildcats’ fourth-ranked offense. The Vols gave up a season-high 78 points and had the best shooting performance from the field and three-point range (50%).
The Volunteers allowed all five Kentucky starters to reach double figures, with three of them scoring 14 or more (Brea, Robinson, Oweh).
Takeaway #2: Volunteers continue to struggle from the perimeter
The Vols’ offense has struggled in SEC play thus far, but Tuesday night’s game appeared to be a wonderful opportunity to break out of that slump, as Kentucky entered the game as one of the SEC’s weakest defenses.
However, the Vols’ offense yet again underperformed. Tennessee had a lot of open looks, but they shot poorly and failed to create a consistent rim attack as their three-point shooting collapsed.
In the loss, the Volunteers attempted an absurd 45 three-pointers, the third most in school history. Rick Barnes’ team connected on just 11 attempts and shot only 24% from deep.
“I don’t think they were the least bit concerned about us shooting tonight,” Barnes said. “All you’ve got to do is look at the numbers. People are going to say, ‘Hey, until they prove they can make them, we are going to let them have all they want.’ ”
Tennessee still needs more offense from Chaz Lanier, who scored his first basket with 39 seconds left in the first half. He scored 15 points on three of 10 three-point attempts. The same can be said for Zakai Zeigler’s perimeter shooting, as he made only one of 11 attempts.
The Vols are not a consistent 3-point shooting team, but they are extremely reliant on them. Tennessee is 15-for-67 from the 3-point line in its previous two games, dating back to Saturday night’s 53-51 loss at No. 1 Auburn, when the Vols went 0-for-14 from three. They shot 24.8% on 3-pointers with 29.3 attempts per game in four losses, beginning with 14 consecutive misses at Florida on Jan. 7.
Tennessee outrebounded Kentucky, had 10 more offensive rebounds, and won the turnover battle by eight, but they were unable to hit shots down the stretch to secure the victory.
“I’m hoping at the right time, we’re going to knock them down, you know? Teams go through it,” Barnes said. “I do think we can shoot the ball. I do.”
Takeaway #3: Milicic Jr. has a confidence-building performance
Rick Barnes and the Volunteers can be pleased with Igor Milicic Jr.’s play on Tuesday.
The Charlotte transfer struggled offensively in five of the previous seven SEC games while suffering from a nagging calf injury.
Milicic Jr. finished with his second-highest point total as a Volunteer against the Wildcats, setting a season-high in made 3-pointers. He shot 6-of-10 overall, 4-of-8 outside the arc, and 3-of-4 at the line. He also had a team-high nine rebounds and four assists.
The 6’10” forward will seek to maintain this momentum when Tennessee faces No. 5 Florida at Food City Center on Saturday at noon, live on ESPN.
To keep up with Tennessee Volunteers basketball on social media, follow @BleedOrangeRev on X/Twitter.
Next up for Tennessee basketball (17-4, 4-4): vs. No. 5 Florida (18-2, 5-2) – Feb. 1 at Noon EST
Next up for Kentucky basketball (15-5, 4-3): vs. Arkansas (12-8, 1-6) – Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. EST