Missed opportunities plague Vols in loss to Kentucky
Eight points isn't even close to an insurmountable lead, but Tennessee sure made it feel like it for a few minutes on Saturday.
The No. 5 Vols, heavy favorites over struggling Kentucky, had the kind of start any team would want in front of a sold out home crowd against their biggest rival and for a moment it felt like Tennessee was going to continue its dominance in SEC play.
But the Wildcats managed to withstand it, clapping back with their own run thanks in part to a couple of Tennessee scoring droughts, which became too common of a theme for the Vols the rest of the way.
Kentucky trailed only once in the second half and Tennessee missed too many shots to get back in the lead, falling 63-56.
Uros Plavsic was among the few offensive bright spots for the Vols, scoring a game-high 19 points, which included 13 points in the second half. He also grabbed three rebounds.
Tennessee (14-3, 4-1 SEC) shot 40.4% from the field and was 14.3% from three-point range.
The Vols were outrebounded, 43-23 and committed 24 fouls.
Kentucky was paced in scoring by Antonio Reeves, who finished with 16 points and made three 3-pointers, which were key in helping the Wildcats stay in the game in the first half. Oscar Tshiebwe had 13 rebounds.
Kentucky (11-6, 2-3) shot just 35.3% from the field but was 22-of-25 from the free throw line.
For Tennessee, the first three minutes of the game looked routine.
The Vols took an 8-0 lead, starting with a basket from Plavsic just over 30 seconds in. Kentucky started 0-for-6 from the field before its first score at the 15:29 mark.
Jacob Toppin opened the way for the Wildcats' 8-0 run and then it settled into a back-and-forth affair over the next 10 minutes before Kentucky rattled off another scoring stretch that went for 10 points to take a 31-23 lead.
In that same span, Tennessee went scoreless for more than three minutes and closed out the half going 1-of-8 from the field, allowing Kentucky to lead 33-26 at the intermission.
Both teams came out of the half with shooting struggles, going the first two minutes without a score before Tshiebwe made a layup to up the Wildcats' lead to 35-26. Tennessee answered, however with a 6-0 run, all of which was scored by Plavsic to pull within three.
Tennessee stayed within three for much of the half, pulling within one after a Plavsic score, but Tyreke Key closed the gap with his first points of the game, a 3-pointer with 10:26 to go to even the score at 41-41, then Zeigler drove in and scored to give the Vols their first lead of the half at 43-41 just over a minute later.
That was the only lead Tennessee would have in the period. Kentucky stayed in front, scoring seven-straight points to go up 58-50. The Vols made a push with scores from Plavsic and Santiago Vescovi to pull within two with 1:08 left, but missed shots forced Tennessee into fouling to stop the clock and Kentucky went 5-for-5 at the line to put the game away for good.
Tennessee is back on the road on Tuesday against Mississippi State at the Humphrey Coliseum. The Vols beat the Bulldogs 87-53 in their first meeting on Jan. 3 in Knoxville.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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