No. 5 Tennessee basketball travels to face No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats in a rematch to extend its winning streak. Read more for a full Tennessee vs Kentucky prediction and preview.
Fifth-ranked Tennessee basketball is primed for its second consecutive road contest, as it faces No. 15 Kentucky Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
Earlier this season, a battered Wildcats squad defeated the Volunteers in Knoxville by a score of 78-73. Tennessee will seek to repay the favor on Tuesday when they travel to Lexington.
General Information:
Teams: No. 5 Tennessee (20-4, 7-4) and No. 15 Kentucky (16-7, 5-5)
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m. EST
Watch: ESPN
Latest on Kentucky basketball:
Kentucky defeated Tennessee 78-73 in their first meeting this season at Food City Center. All five starters scored in double figures, helping the team shoot 25-of-50 (50.0%) overall and 12-of-24 (50.0%) from three.
The Wildcats are 1-2 since they beat the Volunteers. On Feb. 1, the Wildcats suffered an 89-79 loss to Arkansas and former Kentucky coach John Calipari. On Feb. 4, they suffered a 98-84 loss against Ole Miss, their second consecutive loss. They rebounded last Saturday with a comfortable 80-57 win over South Carolina, which is 0-10 in SEC play.
UK dominated the Gamecocks in bench points (36-4) and points in the paint (44-26) to stop a two-game skid and get back to .500 in SEC play. UK trounced the Gamecocks in bench points (36-4) and points in the paint (44-26), snapping a two-game losing streak and returning to .500 in SEC play. Otega Oweh scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, and Brandon Garrison added a season-high 15 for Kentucky.
Latest on Tennessee basketball:
The Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team has yet another ranked conference game Tuesday night against the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Volunteers have been on a roll lately, having won three straight games since losing to the Wildcats on Jan 28. They routed Florida by 20 points, Missouri, and finally Oklahoma by 18 points on the road.
Versus the Sooners, Tennessee made 15 of its initial 17 field goals in its first-ever game at the Lloyd Noble Center and led by as many as 28 points in the dominant result.
Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler led the charge for Rick Barnes’ team. Lanier paced all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-17 field goal shooting, while Zeigler dominated the game with 17 points, nine assists, four assists, and four rebounds.
The Vols shot 11-for-45 on 3-pointers in their loss against the Wildcats. The 45 attempts are the Vols’ second-highest total in a game in school history and the most in Barnes’ ten seasons.
“We knew we could shoot a three anytime we wanted to,” Barnes said afterward. “Of 45, I would say 95% were wide open but that was by design. That is what they were looking for.”
Since then, Tennessee has found success shooting from the perimeter. It was 10-of-15 (66.7%) against Missouri and 9-of-21 against Oklahoma.
“It’s gonna take everybody just being locked in, being engaged,” Gainey said Monday.
The Volunteers will aim to extend their winning streak to four games as they seek to revenge their setback to Kentucky earlier this season.
Tennessee vs Kentucky prediction: Volunteers by 8 (80-72)
To keep up with Tennessee Volunteers basketball on social media, follow @BleedOrangeRev on X/Twitter.