Three days after Tennessee put together its most impressive defensive performance of the season in a two-point loss at Auburn, the Vols couldn't put together enough stops on its home floor against Kentucky.

Eighth-ranked Tennessee used a run to take the lead at halftime, but spent much of the second half playing from behind as the No. 12 Wildcats' prolific shooting and the Vols missed opportunities results in their second-straight loss, a 78-73 defeat at Food City Center Tuesday night.

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Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC) trailed by nine with six minutes left, clawed its way back to pull within a possession in the final minute, but were unable to hit enough shots to pull off the comeback.

The Vols attempted 45 3-pointers and shot just 34.7% from the field while Kentucky (16-4, 4-3) shot 50% from the field and from three-point range, reclaiming the lead with in the early-going of the second and never trailing again.

Igor Milicic Jr. paced Tennessee in scoring with 19 points and nine rebounds and Chaz Lanier, who hit a late 3-pointer that trimmed the Vols' deficit to one with 31 seconds remaining, finished with 15. Zakai Zeigler scored 13.

The Wildcats had five players finish in double-scoring figures, led by Koby Brea with 18. Jaxson Robinson totaled 17.

It took Tennessee more than 25 minutes to make its first 3-pointer at Auburn. Igor Milicic Jr., who scored just 4 points in that game, did it in less than a minute.

Milicic's early three on the Vols' second offensive possession answered one from Koby Brea that put Kentucky ahead, but the Wildcats--one of the top scoring teams in the country--tallied four 3-pointers in the first four minutes to open up a 12-4 lead.

Tennessee, meanwhile had its shooting woes that plagued it in the loss at Auburn follow it back home. The Vols were just 1-of-7 from the field five minutes in before Darlinstone Dubar scored off of the bench to end a scoring drought and cut the Kentucky lead in half at 12-6.

The Wildcats cooled off after their prolific start from the perimeter. They went 4:25 without a field goal and a tough shot made by Zakai Zeigler under the basket trimmed Tennessee's deficit near the midway point of the first half at 13-9.

Otega Oweh scored out of the break to end Kentucky's scoreless stretch and extend its lead, but defense started to translate for the Vols. Felix Okpara pulled down a lob pass from Zeigler and scored on a dunk and was followed by a defensive rebound from Chaz Lanier that led to a floater from Jahmai Mashack to pull the Vols within two at 15-13.

The Wildcats answered, though. Robinson and Ansley Almonor made threes on back-to-back possession to put Kentucky back in front, 21-13 with just over eight minutes to go in the half.

Despite a three-plus minute stretch without a field goal, Tennessee used the free throw line to get back within three before Almonor buried a 3-pointer and Brandon Garrison scored to put the Wildcats up 28-22.

After Kentucky went up eight, Jordan Gainey provided the Vols with a much-needed three with inside of three minutes until halftime. He came through again after Tennessee kept one possession alive with a couple of offensive boards that led to another Gainey three to draw the Vols closer at 30-28.

Another defensive stand led to Mashack getting fouled on the offensive end and his two free throws drew Tennessee even for the first time since the first minute of the half at 30-30 with 1:28 on the clock.

Second chance opportunities continued to pay off for the Vols, who used another offensive rebound to lead Lanier's go-ahead 3-pointer, giving Tennessee its first lead with 30.4 seconds to go. It was enough to send the Vols into the intermission in front, 33-30.

Tennessee's takeover over the last five minutes of the half was even more impressive that for much of that stretch it had to go without Zeigler, who exited the game with a right knee injury and did not return for the remainder of the half.

Zeigler was back on the floor to start the second half, but it was Kentucky that headlined the first couple of minutes. The Wildcats showed some of the firepower that it had in the early-going of the first, shooting better than 62% out of the gate, including a pair of 3-pointers from Brea and Almonor to go up six at 43-37 with 15:34 left.

Tennessee was just 2-of-7 from the field in that same stretch, its only scores from Milicic and Zeigler before Lanier hit a mid-range jumper to cut its deficit to four out of a timeout.

Milicic knocked down a three from the corner off of an inbound pass, but Kentucky clapped back with consecutive scores, including a Robinson 3-pointer to up its lead to 50-42 with 14 minutes left.

Tennessee answered when Lanier connected on a contested jumper late in the shotclock, but the Vols struggled to get stops. Trent Noah's three with 12 minutes left gave the Wildcats their biggest lead at that point at 55-44.

Tennessee did string stops, yielding positive result offensively. It got its deficit back under double-digits after a Zeigler three, but the Vols continued their concerning trend of fouling a three-pointer shooter, sending Brea to the line where he hit two of three to push Kentucky's lead to nine with 8:04 left.

Darlinstone Dubar rattled in a 3-pointer after entering the game out of a timeout and Zeigler finished off a drive with a score. Kentucky again went up nine after an Oweh and-1, but Zeigler scored and was fouled on the other end in response to get the Vols within seven, 67-60.

Dubar stepped in front of a Kentucky pass and took the ball the other way for a score, putting some pressure on the Wildcats at 71-65 and forcing Mark Pope into a timeout with 4:36 to go.

Whatever that timeout was meant to provide, it didn't help. The Vols forced another turnover and Lanier laced a three and Tennessee was down just three, 71-68.

Free throws gave Kentucky a two possession lead again and one Dubar and Zeigler missed threes on one Vols possession as part of a 3:06 drought, but Kentucky was unable to take advantage.

Lanier was fouled on an offensive board and his free throws made it a three-point game at 73-70 with just over a minute remaining, but Cade Phillips fouled Robinson trying to snag the ball on the inbound and the ensuing free throw put the Wildcats up four.

Tennessee will continue a daunting stretch with its fourth-straight ranked opponent on Saturday.

The Vols host No. 5 Florida (Noon ET, ESPN) for the second time in less a month. The Gators (18-2, 5-2) won the first match up in Gainesville, 73-43 on Jan. 7.

Florida, which does not have a midweek game this week, has won three-straight, including a 30-point rout of Georgia last Saturday. The Gators are 2-1 in road games in league play this season.

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